Ivory Light
by TheDarkTulip
Summary: Death is supposed to be final, it's supposed to be eternal nothingness and that's what I was expecting. Being reincarnated was not part of the deal, being reincarnated as an anime character certainly wasn't. Hi, my name is Shoko Hyuuga, and things are going to change around here.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright guys this is my first Naruto fic and any constructive criticism welcome but please no flames. Many thanks guys! Also, I am my own beta so I apologise if I miss any mistakes/plot holes but I hope you enjoy this guys! Also, this first chapter is really short but I promise the next ones will be longer.**

**Tulip Out.**

You know, I'd always imagined I'd die of old age. I hadn't ever really given thought to dying any other way, apart from maybe sickness but then I'd pegged that as being _part _of old age you know?

Instead I died screaming. Alright, it sounds pathetic but I was scared, no, I was _terrified. _In those short moments between death and life I felt total and utter panic and a tremendous desire to _live._

I think it was that desire that kept me around, if only to see my own blood spill over the dashboard and my driving instructor. I think I sat up, or at least part of me sat up because the rest of me was still slumped over with something tearing straight through my chest.

The instructor was mumbling, then yelling, then screaming my name. It was no good, I was definitely dead, I might have been able to survive the pole through my chest but that other pole, the one sticking out the back of my head.

Yeah, no, wasn't surviving that.

There was a weird moment when I hovered, and I could have sworn that the instructors eyes recognised me right before they rolled back into his head and he slumped into the seat.

But that moment was done and gone quick, and I waited screaming for the light that I felt positive would come.

Indeed it did, mere moments after I died and I found it somewhat ironic that in death I screamed, and that was how I woke.

Screaming.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up screaming was strange, because if I'm honest with you it didn't feel like I was awake. The entire room was white and filled with a terrible clean smell, like someone had bleached it over and over and over again.

Someone grabbed hold of my arm, startling the ever-living heck out of me. I turned and wrenched my arm away but either I was really weak or they were really strong because even with my screaming and my clawing at whoever had grabbed me I couldn't get them off.

"-own! You need to calm down!"

I couldn't calm down damn it! My body felt strange, incomplete and this horrible white light was blinding me.

It wasn't long after that that I was pulled into somebody's embrace, my arms pinned against their chest as they muttered soothing words to me. At first, out of sheer stubbornness I refused to stop screaming, but it didn't take long for me to realise just how futile it was.

I was still, in a strangers arms, for several long moments before whoever it was pulled away. The face that was staring down at me shocked me into utter silence. The face stood behind him even more strikingly so.

Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuuga were right there, _right there_ in front of me looking more than a little worried about my wellbeing and it was crazy as heck.

"See, _imouto, _nothing to fear here." The twin holding me said with a small weary smile but I could do nothing but stare.

"Hiashi, give her some room to breath." The other twin (clearly Hizashi) muttered and Hiashi reluctantly let me go to stand with his brother.

I was without words, a hard thing to do because normally I could never shut up but I had no words. What words are you supposed to have in this kind of situation? I mean really, what kind of words could you have?

"_Imouto? _Are you alright?" Hiashi asked and I blinked up at them.

What the hell was an _imouto?_

"Where am I?" I blurted out, unable to keep it in.

_Out of all the questions you could have asked, you picked that?_

Hiashi and Hizashi looked unsurprised by the question so maybe that was a good one to pick.

"You've been sick _imouto, _this is the hospital." Hizashi told me gently but this cleared up absolutely nothing.

"The hospital _where?" _I persisted, but before they could answer my body decided to hack it's own guts up in a mad coughing fit.

"Easy _imouto, _you're in Konoha general. In our village," Hizashi told me rubbing my back in smooth circular motions as Hiashi called for a doctor.

"How…long." I begged between wheezes as Hizashi hushed me, and laid me back down on the bed with a surprisingly tenderness.

"You've been sick about a year."

_Well…shit._

And that was the last thing that registered before I fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

The second time I woke, I was slightly less confused than before. According to my previous experience in the land of the living, I was in Konoha hospital and I was not, despite my car crash, dead.

Which, you know, kind of through me out of the loop.

I was alive, and I was in…Naruto?

I was still in the hospital, and I could hear voices immediately outside my door. Hiashi and Hizashi were arguing with someone, very loudly.

"You cannot see her, she is gravely ill!" One yelled angrily.

"She is recovering." A voice I did not recognise replied completely casual.

"You have no right to be here and no right to-"

One of the twins was cut off by a new voice, and the shadows at the door all shifted around.

"Danzõ, you are not a Hyuuga, and therefore have no right to see her. I suggest you leave." The fourth party ordered, and I didn't here what happened next but I knew without a doubt that Danzõ had left.

Moments later, the door opened and the Hyuuga twins stepped into my room…along with the Fourth Hokage?

"_Imouto, _the Fourth Hokage has come to see you." Hizashi (was it Hizashi? Yes…yes I think so)

I was dumbstruck, but it didn't stop me from opening my smart-arse mouth.

"I can see that."

Minato thought it was hilarious, both Hizashi and Hiashi looked bashful but as though they had expected this. I wasn't sure what to say now, Minato seemed kind enough but he was _alive. _This, was not good.

Alright so it wasn't bad either but still! It meant that he was _going _to die, hell, it also meant that Hizashi was going to die and I really didn't want that. Not after he and Hiashi had been so kind to me when I was so lost and alone.

"Good to see you awake Shoko." Minato grinned, but the name was like a slap.

"Who?"

Judging by the three horror struck looks around me, I probably shouldn't have said that. Hiashi took a heart wrenching step backwards into the door, and Hizashi was frozen to the spot. Minato looked torn between concern and dread.

"We always knew this was a possibility." Minato finally uttered, his eyes not leaving mine.

"Knew what was a possibility?" I demanded, rather than asked because I was confused and I damn well needed some answers.

"Amnesia, Shoko," Minato paused "your name is Shoko Hyuuga, you're the youngest of the three main branch children."

I nodded, slowly.

"Uh…how old does that make me…and you?" nodded hesitantly at my…brothers?

"We are seventeen, you, are eight."

"EIGHT?!" I screeched and Hiashi flinched "I'm eight?!"

Minato tried, oh how he tried to hide his smirk but he failed and I sure noticed. I glared at him, but damn I was _eight, _I bet I didn't look all that intimidating especially not to the Fourth Hokage.

"Calm down _imouto,_" Hizashi pleaded but he was also smothering laughter.

"What. Else." I hissed through my teeth and Minato sobered.

"You became seriously ill a year ago, after travelling to another village with your family and you have been delirious since." His voice turned grave "You very nearly didn't make it."

I shuddered, great, so in my other life I actually died and this life I almost died.

I was off to a _great _start.

"That's about all there is to tell Shoko-chan," Minato smiled fondly "if you keep recovering like this then you will be out of here and back home in no time." He grinned before he said his goodbyes and left.

"One week," Hiashi smiled "and you'll be home."


	3. Chapter 3

**Are you enjoying the story? Please review my lovelies! I would like to know what you guys think, if you like it, if you don't and why. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**

One week in a hospital lasts forever.

I had counted the ceiling tiles more times than was really necessary and if asked could probably recite the times tables backwards I'd recited them so often, both aloud and in my head.

But now I was to be released and sent home, and although I was looking forwards to getting out of the hospital I was also dreading what I would find. Was it even my home? It was the Hyuuga estate, it was not as large as the Uchiha estate but even so…I was very nervous.

"You shouldn't be so worried," Hiashi smiled "you will be welcomed warmly I promise."

Hiashi and Hizashi both held my hands, a childish thing to do but hey I was eight again I could be childish if I wanted.

Not to mention the nerves, I was terrified of this new life and of what I might find here so I clutched both their hands tightly. You may be wondering just where in the timeline I am, considering that both Hiashi and Hizashi are alive but the truth is…I had no idea.

They were both seventeen years old, and neither Neji nor Hinata had been born yet.

Minato was still Hokage.

This meant, I was at least ten years before the original storyline started. Minimum, probably more because apparently Kushina wasn't even pregnant yet. Which meant I had time to kill, and plans to make.

I had here, the opportunity to change _everything._

Now, don't get me wrong I am very well aware that big things will still happen, Sasuke will run, Jiraiya will die and Naruto will learn the truth at the start of the series. Fine, but I could still change some of the little things.

However, until the events of this timeline started or at least showed some sign of being canon to what I knew I was simply going to live. I was going to train, become a Hyuuga ninja.

In all my wondering I hadn't realised how far we had walked, and now the gates to the Hyuuga estate presented themselves to us and I felt astoundingly small. I had been tall before, and now I was dwarfed by almost everyone.

Damn I hated being small.

The doors swung open and we were greeted, just as Hiashi had promised, very, very warmly. Some of them looked positively delighted to see us, others hid in the background muttering darkly and I decided that I didn't want to know.

I was given a grand tour of the Hyuuga mansion I was to stay in until I was old enough to live in one of the branch houses. The main house was for the main family, understandably.

Until then, I had the run of the place and was to be treated like royalty, but I didn't feel like royalty. I felt…out of place.

"Come," Hizashi smirked tugging my forwards towards the long corridors I knew the rooms were down "I'll take you to your room whilst Hiashi deals with the boring family stuff."

Hiashi sent him a mock-glare and turned to a group of much older Hyuuga whilst we went the other way down the corridor, coming to a stop at the end. The doors to my room slid open, for all the doors were sliding doors that looked like paper.

I had a porch like area that lead out into a small garden, a private garden I was told.

"Mother used to love her garden, she died giving birth to you," Hizashi looked sad and I felt tremendously guilty at that.

It wasn't my fault, it wasn't like I'd intentionally killed her.

"we gave you her room, and with it her garden." He smiled down at me "You used to love running around in there because nobody could stop you."

I smirked, that at least, sounded like something I would do.

"Have…do I attend the academy?"

Hizashi paused, like he was thinking about his next sentence very carefully and I had to wonder what Shoko was like _before _the sickness because they all had memories of her even if I didn't. I felt like such a fake stood here in an eight year olds room next to her brother, not knowing who either of them were.

"No, you were home schooled because of certain difficulties." He explained with forced casualty.

"Can I start again soon?"

Hizashi frowned and looked moderately surprised, did Shoko not like school? Well, it didn't matter if she didn't before because she did now. I'd always excelled in school and learning would help me become part of the Hyuuga family as I had been before.

Or had I? Gah, I was having an existential crisis and all this thinking just wasn't helping me.

I stood in the centre of the room and turned, but paused when I spotted the mirror. I couldn't help but wonder how I looked now, I moved over to it expecting black hair, pale skin and those brilliant pale eyes but it just…well it wasn't.

Hizashi looked torn between covering the mirror and explaining why unlike the rest of the Hyuuga family I had caramel coloured hair, or blue eyes that colour of a midmorning sky in the middle of spring.

Sure my skin was pale but the rest of it just wasn't a Hyuuga face.

"When you were ill…" he began to explain "we tried everything, and some of it…changed you…"

I wondered if this was a dig at my new personality as well as my new look. Sure, I didn't look bad, but in a Hyuuga household I stuck out like a sore thumb.

"It's fine." I told him, nonchalant as always.

I strolled away from the mirror and back to Hizashi who was trying to look as casual as he could but failing miserably, and it made me smirk. Well, at least he was trying.

"Come on, it's getting late." Hizashi grinned opening the sliding door to let me out "We can all have dinner together, then you can sleep."

I scowled, "The suns still up."

Hizashi laughed.

"Just like always, welcome home Shoko."

For the first time since I'd arrived, I was starting to feel like I really _was_ home.

The feeling didn't last.


	4. Chapter 4

**I should probably do a disclaimer shouldn't I?**

**I don't own Naruto, only Shoko and this basic storyline. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and his affiliates.**

**There will be a few time jumps in order to start the story and initiate a few of the changes Shoko will make, so I just thought I'd tell you all that.**

**Reviews are love!**

**Read and Review guys,**

**Tulip Out.**

After four months, my brothers declared me fit for training and I fell into a simple but exhaustive routine. I would wake, have a full and hearty breakfast and then spar my teacher for an hour then my cousins for another hour.

After that, I would practise my stances, then my chakra control and then it was time for lunch. After lunch I did my book studies, the rules of my home, of the Hyuuga and of ninja.

Kunoichi also had to learn how to go undercover as a housewife, how to effectively seem civilian whilst working with another ninja. Acting, hiding my chakra amongst other things.

I enjoyed it, I really really enjoyed it but I couldn't help but notice the snide remarks by other members of the house. The favourite seemed to be 'that Hyuuga bastard'.

Did it hurt? Yes. Yes it did. However, I had already decided to believe my brothers when they told me I was not a bastard, because really why would they keep me (and the village) under the belief that I was? What could come of it?

"She doesn't even _look _like a Hyuuga," one of my older cousins growled furiously as she tidied the kitchen, unaware that I was watching "why would they claim her when she is so obviously a bast-"

She turned, and saw me standing at the door.

"You don't _look _like a woman," I spat "but you still _claim_ to be one!"

I turned and stomped away to the sound of her splutters and I didn't look back, my eyes stung but I refused to cry and give them that. I wouldn't let them hurt me I'd only been here four months.

I wasn't even the Shoko Hyuuga they all remembered, the Shoko Hyuuga they all remembered was some of sort of she-devil. I…don't think I'm a she-devil…

I stormed to my room, but as I had sliding doors I couldn't exactly slam them and I didn't want to rip the paper so I just stomped inside and stomping on a wooden floor in my training sandals makes quite the bang.

I continued to stomp until I reached my garden, and I moved to the rock in the centre. I clambered up (quite the feat for an eight year old) and sat staring over the wall into the village.

It wasn't much of a view, but every now and then I could see ninja returning from missions. Today, was…slightly different.

"Why are you looking into my garden?" I demanded the masked figure standing just outside my garden peering over my wall.

He didn't answer, but he did turn back to another masked figure who just shrugged their shoulders.

"Are you perverts?" I asked, with the amount of innocence only an eight year old could muster, fluttering my eyelashes like the child I was.

One of them started to splutter, the other, the first Anbu didn't give any indication that he/she cared.

They had to be anbu surely, they had on leaf masks and they were clearly on some secret mission. God knows what and God knows why it had brought them to my little garden but as long as I wasn't in danger they could do whatever the hell they liked.

"Anbu-san, please tell me why you're spying on my garden." I whined in agitation, this was my personal place and I hated it when my own family was in here let alone strangers.

"We are waiting for the Hokage, our apologies for disturbing you." The first one offered, bowing deeply and the other hastily followed suit.

I could a flash of spiked silver hair before he stood.

I smiled "Thank you for telling me, you can come in if you'd like…I had some tea in my room?"

The silver haired Anbu tilted his head to the side, and the other one shuffled in his/her place awkwardly.

"We couldn't impose." The silver haired Anbu insisted but I just guffawed.

"Impose all you like, you can't be any worse than them." I motioned over my shoulder to my own home and my family within but the Anbu stayed where they were, content to wait without tea.

They watched me for a little while and I did my best to ignore them, but my mind drifted back to that horrible cousin of mine and her horrible words. I glowered at the floor angrily, stupid woman, stupid Hyuuga's, stupid sickness that pulled me into Naruto and made me look like…well…this.

"Hello lady Hyuuga, why the glum face?"

I peered up at the fourth Hokage, he looked so cocky and happy and it hurt to know that he'd be dead soon. I'd seen him a few times around and about and everybody seemed to love him. Well, all the good guys at least.

"Because my family is full of dicks."

Minato froze where he was and peered down at my uncomfortably.

"Where did you learn that?" He asked carefully and I shrugged my shoulders dismissively.

"From my family."

Minato sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he mumbled something to himself and then turned to the two Anbu outside my garden.

"You are relieved, I want a mission report on my desk tomorrow morning." He ordered, before he crouched down on my wall and peered down at me.

The two Anbu left in a blur of unidentifiable colour.

Minato jumped from my wall and landed with a gentle thud beside me, he looked torn between saying something and minding his own business.

"Listen," He cleared his throat awkwardly "whatever they say, you know it isn't true right?"

I nodded, trying to hide my smirk because he clearly had no idea what he was doing and I saw a lot of Naruto's own awkwardness showing itself. Even though awkwardness was not hereditary in the slightest.

"And…well maybe I'm not the best person to talk to, buuuuut," he drew the word out with a smile "you _can _talk to me, or Kushina, maybe Kushina would be better…" he was mumbling now.

"Thank you very much Lord Hokage," I never forgot my manners "I'll remember that."

I grinned up at him and he flashed me a shiny white grin before he vanished in, you guessed it, a yellow flash.

I sat on my rock until dinner and after dinner I went to bed as always. I stared up at the ceiling and focused on my chakra, it felt strange accessing something I'd never had before but the good kind of strange.

I pulled and pushed at it, knowing that in about five minutes Hizashi or Hiashi would be in to tell me not to. I wasn't allowed to overtax myself, they were all so concerned that it made me feel like a piece of china.

I pushed it around, feeling it in my palms and my feet, and then I pushed it up towards my face. Most Hyuuga's accessed their Byakugan by the age of ten, so I still had two years to go yet but I wanted to get ahead.

I wanted to be ready for anything, the future I knew and the one I wanted to create. A better future, with less death and more victories.

I heard footsteps outside my door.

"Shoko, what have we told you about-" Hizashi paused when he walked in and saw me, a grin breaking out on his face.

"Shoko! Your eyes!"

I blinked, and realised what I'd done. The whole world was in that strange luminous white and black and I could see the lines of chakra that made up my older brother.

"Byakugan!" I shrilled, and was enveloped in a hug.

Well, that was…unexpected.


	5. Chapter 5

When I turned nine, I was made a genin. My team consisted of myself, Anko (who was two years older and a genin) and a genin called Hiro Hyuuga (aged ten) who was one of my cousins. Our commander, was Kushina.

I suspected Minato had had a hand in that but I kept my trap shut about it, because it could be a whole lot worse than getting stuck with the Hokage's wife.

Hiro didn't like me much, he clearly believed I was a Hyuuga bastard and I was happy enough to leave him to his delusions.

Kushina, seemed more than happy to have the three of us on her team even though we were all of different ages, talent was talent or so it would seem.

"I'm pleased to meet all of you," She introduced with a smirk, catching my eye for a moment "I know we'll all get along famously."

The silent promise didn't go unnoticed, get along, or else.

"When's our first mission?" Anko asked, twirling a senbon needle in her fingers like a pro and Kushina smirked.

"This afternoon, only D-ranked but you've all got to start somewhere." Kushina shrugged, and I swear you could practically hear Anko's teeth grinding together in agitation.

"I've already moved on to C-rank missions!" She growled and Hiro-kun nodded angrily.

"As have I, why should we slow down because of _that_."

I didn't wince at the jab, but Anko seemed to spot the sudden stiffness of my shoulders because she relaxed a little.

"I can do C-rank missions Kushina-sensei." I insisted brashly, stupid idea and Kushina knew as much.

So did Anko, and Hiro-kun for that matter but whilst Anko looked sympathetic Hiro-kun just laughed. Kushina clapped him over the head and he scowled but said nothing, I felt triumphant at his punishment.

"We will do D-rank missions until I say so, you are a newly formed team and you need to learn to work together _no matter what._" She ordered and this time Anko was silent, Hiro-kun grunted under his breath and I steeled myself for the worst.

Nothing came as Hiro-kun waited for the details of the mission, a very simple mission that involved gardening for an elderly civilian who was recovering from a fall and couldn't do it himself.

Simple. Agonisingly simple but I did it with gusto.

I had a blooming garden of my own after all so it wasn't like I didn't know what I was doing. And Kushina was never too far away, probably to make sure we didn't kill each other.

It was Anko who first broached the subject of mine and Hiro-kuns relationship.

"If you two are cousins, why do you hate her so much?" She asked, blunt as always and Hiro-kun bristled.

"I am not related to _that._"

I sighed, but continued to tear a weed from the dirt by its roots and let Hiro-kun rant to Anko about my impure blood and whatnot. Then she turned to me, and sat herself on the dirt beside me as I replanted a small rose bush that had been wilting away in a pot on the old mans windowsill.

"Are you a bastard?"

I snickered and shook my head, sometimes a bit of bluntness was just what you needed. I was fed up of people dancing around the subject or muttering behind my back like I was some sort of demon…

Naruto's face popped into my mind and I felt a newfound appreciation for Naruto and a new stronger determination to make sure he didn't live through it twice.

"No, my appearance is the result of an illness that almost took my life." I explained and she nodded.

"Then why is he being so cruel?"

I shrugged my shoulders, even though I knew the answer.

"Hiro-kun-"

"Don't call me that!"

"-believes what his parents tell him as all children of our age should. I forgive him, and them."

A wad of dirt hit me in the side of the face, and I rubbed the mud from my eyes hastily as Anko kicked him in the shin. Kushina got involved before it could escalate any further but neither part would apologise.

"I'll be having words with the Hyuuga's." She promised us both, and then sternly informed Anko that she would be the one writing up the report for the mission and this clearly seemed like punishment enough.

Apparently Anko loathed writing reports, and Kushina knew this.

Hiro-kun stalked home several steps ahead of me, but at least had the courtesy to wait for me at the main gates of the Hyuuga estate but once we had gotten inside he didn't even spare me a glance and ran towards his small branch family home.

No doubt his parents would come complaining to Hiashi and Hizashi alike, and they would inform me dutifully about it and ask that I try not to test Hiro-kuns temper.

I watched Hiro-kun until he had rounded the corner and I turned to bow politely to the Hyuuga guards that watched the gates.

"Thank you for your services." I echoed my brothers but the guards seemed to appreciate it.

Sometimes the little things mattered.

I continued through the mazes of homes within the compound, greeting the people I saw even if I knew some wouldn't greet me back. By the time I had reached my own room I was starting to feel peckish, but dinner would be soon and I wanted to watch as the sky turned the colour of blood and the koi in my pond shone like stars in the night sky.

I no longer had to scramble up onto my rock, instead I just had to push a little chakra into my feet and jumped up onto the top before plopping down onto my backside.

One year.

One year had passed since I had 'recovered' from my illness and I had so far changed…

Nothing.

That's right, I had changed nothing since my 'recovery' and I wasn't planning on changing anything quite yet. I was considered above average in terms of skills in the Hyuuga clan but not a genius, I just had a bit of natural talent but I trained hard and passed my academy exam with flying colours.

Not the shadow clone exam, but a sparring match between myself and an already graduated genin to see if we were ready because fighting skill was more important than technical skill right now.

War was raging, ninjas were desperately needed to fight no matter what the age. The war was supposedly coming to an end but I heard about the dead everyday, and occasionally there were Hyuuga names mentioned as well.

"_Imouto_?" Hizashi called in, peering past my open door and into the garden as respectfully as my older brother could given that his soon-to-be wife was trying to weave flowers into his hair.

"Hello _nisan_," I greeted and then smiled at Rei Hyuuga, a beautiful sixteen year old Hyuuga from our distant cousins with no Byakugan but a powerful right hook.

She and Hizashi had been seeing each other since they were children, an arranged marriage that thankfully lead to love.

Hiashi and Maya were getting along, and Hiashi was certainly infatuated by her but Maya was resisting on the grounds that she didn't want to be forced into an arranged marriage.

"Dinner, plus, we have an announcement to make." Hizashi grinned and Rei giggled, and I followed truthfully.

The wedding was three weeks later, and as I watched Rei and Hizashi I couldn't help but remember that in the original timeline, both were dead.

Not this time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Two reviews! Whoop!**

**December 25****th****, I'm glad you're enjoying the story!**

**AngelOfAnime9, I'm glad you like her, I really don't want to make her a Mary-Sue, I had several plot lines lined up that hopefully wont make her one but I'm always worried she'll come off that way.**

**I don't own Naruto in any way, only Shoko Hyuuga and her storyline.**

**Reviews are love!**

**Read and Review guys.**

**Tulip Out.**

At nine and a half three things happened to me that would change the way I thought for a long time.

One, I failed my first mission and almost lost my own life.

It also happened to be my first C-rank mission, because Kushina was sick of listening to Hiro-kun and Anko complain and (I hope) because she thought I was ready for an out-of-village mission.

As part of the war we were expected to collect information, we were young and quick which in theory made us harder targets when data collecting. We had to collect a scroll from a patrol of leaf ninja that had just returned from a long tiring mission in the sand, there were no other details that this other than to bring this scroll back no matter what.

When we arrived, no amount of training could ever have prepared me for what we saw.

The bodies of fellow leaf ninja were strewn haphazardly on the floor, but none of them were in any kind of recognisable state. They had all been twisted around from their feet all the way up to their necks.

There was no blood, but somehow that was worse.

I wanted to vomit, my body started shaking and it felt like my feet were rooted to the ground I wanted to run away but some invisible force was gripping me tight and making me look.

Anko grabbed my shoulder tightly with her hand.

"We wont be here long." She assured moving swiftly in and out of the bodies in search of the scrolls with practised ease and Hiro-kun soon joined her. I was stuck there, like a fool until they turned back to me and returned.

"It's not here, mission failed." Hiro-kun grunted angrily and Anko nodded.

"Time to go, come on Shoko."

She reached out, whether it was to give me a shake and snap me out of it or just carry me away I didn't know and I didn't find out either.

Her finger must have been a hair breadth from mine, when I was pulled backwards by the back of my shirt. Anko leapt towards me and I thrust out my hand in hopes she'd grab hold but she vanished in a sudden blur of colour.

Then, I was falling.

Anko told me I had been thrown, but it hadn't felt that way because for a moment I was frozen in the air not going up but not falling down either. I was just stuck there, looking down at the forest and the bodies and my team mates.

I saw them fighting, for a second, and then I fell.

The wind cut into me as I feel down towards the forest from an impossible height, my eyes stung and I rolled uncontrollable as I panicked. What did I do? Did I try and grab a tree branch and snap my arm? Or did I just hit every branch on the way down and hope for the best?

I fell too quick to decide, and felt my wrist shatter on the first of many branches I hit. Even as I tumbled I knew I was done for, which brings me onto the second thing that happened.

I met Kakashi Hatake and Maito Gai.

I hit branch after branch, breaking bone after bone and bruising all of my flesh till I was a giant technicoloured bruise falling from the sky until just as suddenly as I started I stopped.

Maito Gai's arms were like cement blocks when he caught me, but it wasn't as uncomfortable or painful as it should have been as he grabbed me and then rolled midair to land on a branch opposite.

Kakashi Hatake landed beside him, and looked me over with a trained eye. In a fit of defiance I glared up at him, even though blood was dripping from my forehead and mouth I managed an angry grunt.

"That looked painful." He remarked and I snorted which lead to an intense coughing fit.

_Broken ribs. Broken wrist, probably got a concussion too…_

Kakashi said nothing else and just joined the fray below as Gai administered some basic emergency field aid and although it was only marginal, there was relief to my pain. I sagged into him and he huffed loudly.

"Why were you not told that we already had the scroll?" He asked loudly so I frowned up at him.

"What?" I demanded in a bloody croak, Gai leapt from the tree with me still in his arms and I had to marvel that I felt nothing as we moved much like when I had been thrown.

"You _already had it?_" Anko demanded furiously, eyes scanning me for anything life threatening.

I gave her a weak thumbs up and she nodded, I didn't look at Hiro-kun. I don't think I'd have been able to handle the glee on his face right then, not after all that.

"We had already completed the mission, the scroll had already been delivered." Gai told them both and Anko started shaking with rage.

"Who was it delivered to?" Hiro-kun asked furiously and Kakashi glanced at me.

"Juzo Hyuuga."

Number three.

My family were trying to kill me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this took so long guys, I had four shows to do at college as part of my course so I was busy with rehearsals and such but the next show isn't until the new year so I should be back to updating.**

**Elliot Sterling, I always forget that people have different voices to read in their heads with, you've just reminded me of it haha. Glad you're enjoying the story! I hope you continue to!**

**AngelOfAnime97, you will soon learn that cliff hangers are my bread and butter, I am quite fond of them after all.**

**December 25****th****, I know right?!**

**Kayo-San, well, that's what they are telling everyone anyway…(cue evil laughter)**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**

Arriving back at the village I felt numb, even if I hadn't been given painkillers I wouldn't have noticed I just felt so numb. I couldn't understand how I could be hated so much, I was a Hyuuga the same as them _what had I done wrong?_

I asked my brothers as much.

"You didn't _do _anything," Hiashi snarled "they are all fools."

Hizashi stood in the corner silently seething as always, he never exhibited his anger verbally like Hiashi did he just let it boil over like a volcano in a terrifying explosion whereas Hiashi let his out in a steady stream of cursing and punching stuff.

A habit that didn't amuse the Hyuuga elders in the slightest.

"I'll have his _head."_

I stared at Hiashi and sighed, well I suppose I couldn't really expect any less from my brothers really. They were unnaturally protective of me, and while most of the time I didn't mind I was a ninja and life threatening missions were part and parcel.

I sat in my hospital bed staring out of the window into the village, I was right about the broken ribs, the broken wrist and the concussion and the bruises but there were several more injuries that I didn't like thinking about.

Not the mention the emotional damage.

"Why don't I look like everyone else?" I asked my brothers stiffly.

"You know why-" Hizashi told me in that frighteningly calm voice of his that I did so hate.

"No, I know that something changed me when I was ill but you _never said what._"

They exchanged a brief look.

"The illness you had, it completely blocked up your chakra production." Hiashi told me sitting on the bed as Hizashi stayed stiffly next to the door.

"Then it started to devour what was left of your chakra, your chakra systems and every other part of you that you can imagine."

I shuddered, living without Chakra probably wouldn't have been that bad, I hadn't exactly had any before now had I? But I kind of needed the rest of my networks even if I didn't need my chakra one.

"We were growing desperate, so we got Lady Tsunade to help. She told us about chakra transplants, where the chakra of another individual would be transplanted into you with the strength the beat the illness."

I understood the concept, it was like a blood transfusion really but this new chakra would be strong enough to fight off the virus whilst mine wasn't strong enough to do so.

"That doesn't explain my appearance." I told him grumbling in irritation.

"The chakra you were given was so powerful, that you developed some of the physical attributes of the person, in this case Tsunade, who gave it to you. She said this might happen-"

I opened my mouth to cut him off but he beat me to the punch.

"-and she also said that given a fear years, when your own chakra recovered that you would grow out of it."

I shut my mouth, then opened it, and then shut it again. I must've looked like some sort of demented fish but I really couldn't care less because it meant that in a few years, I would look like every other Hyuuga in my family.

"I'll be a proper Hyuuga?" I asked hopefully but it just made Hiashi scowl.

"You _are _a proper Hyuuga," He told me furiously "there are many branch members with brown hair-"

"Dark brown hair, practically black." I pointed out "And none with blue eyes that are as bright, all Hyuuga eyes are pale like a blind mans."

Hiashi pinched the bridge of his nose but said no more. Hizashi was as still as a statue, taking in the scene with those furious eyes. I tried to smile at him, but you just couldn't placate my brothers (either of them) when they were in this state.

Silence hung in the air like fog, and I wish they'd either cheer up or leave because it was suffocating in here right now and I wasn't permitted to leave till tomorrow after I'd had one last treatment.

Broken bones were surprisingly easy to fix in the ninja world, I'd be out of action for three weeks top, then I'd only be able to train lightly for another week and then if there were no complications I should be perfectly healed.

I was just about to leap out of the window, when Anko came barging into the room dragging a reluctant Hiro-kun behind her.

"I have food!" She cheered with a bright grin, and I noticed that she in fact had no food, Hiro-kun was carrying several baskets full of goodies.

"I'm only in here for another day," I laughed "I wont be able to eat all of it!"

Anko grinned slyly at me.

"It isn't all for you."

I snorted loudly and in a way that wasn't at all ladylike, watching Hiro-kun as he placed all the baskets either on my bed or on the table beside it. He was stood perfectly straight, and I knew he was only here to impress my brothers.

Hiashi stood, smiling gently at me as he patted my head before he and Hizashi left.

"Give me a basket with something sweet in," I begged Anko "and quick."

She laughed rambunctiously and handed me a basket that I tore into quickly, not sparing either of them a glance as I grabbed the sweet rice desert and devoured it furiously. If Naruto ever became Hokage, I was going to make him redesign the entire hospital menu.

"Your family is weird." Anko told me as she grabbed a basket from Hiro-kun and thrust it into my arms.

"Yeah." I agreed and Hiro-kun huffed but said nothing more.

We ate in a peaceful silence until Hiro-kun, which was unusual because Hiro-loved these silences and all the brooding he could do in it.

"It's not because of the way you look."

The food froze on the way to my mouth and Anko shoved him off of his seat, but before I could beg for the answer to my isolation from my family the door opened and our sensei walked in.

"Kushina-sensei!" Anko grinned as she came walking in, she patted both Anko and Hiro-kun on the head before giving me a quick hug.

She really was like an older sister, even though the academy taught us that your jounin sensei was only there as a teacher and that emotional bonds were dangerous nobody really cared for it. Your sensei was family, you were either their siblings or their children and nobody had ever thought to question it.

"Don't worry kiddo," She assured, giving me a tight squeeze before she pulled away "Juzo is going to be punished, _severely._" She almost didn't add the severely, but Kushina-sensei always tried to be honest with us.

We were at war, there was no time for mollycoddling.

"Oh, and once you've recovered we have another C-rank mission," Her eyes twinkled mischievously "after all, this one was somewhat…compromised."

Anko whooped loudly and even Hiro-kun grinned, I guess I'd just have to wait to find out why my family really wanted me dead but I think, just for now, that could wait.

I could enjoy this peace, while it lasted.


	8. Chapter 8

**Guess who missed her college bus and is updating her story instead or working? That's right, me! Whoops…ha…**

**Kayo-san, Hiro is…well he's learning that his parents aren't always right and that can be a hard thing to accept growing up so their will be some emotional turmoil for him in the future.**

**NumberOneNarutoFan, I'm glad!**

**Scarlet rose white, I'm glad that you like it, I hope that you continue to!**

**Honoka, that is a secret that I will carry to my grave! Just kidding, it'll come out…eventually…hehe**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**

I discovered at age ten, that I had a talent for earth jutsu. It was something we had all been practising as a team, learning our chakra types and what we could do with it. Kushina wanted to do this because normally the Hyuuga family didn't, we preferred to simply rely on our kekkei genkai because it was ours and ours alone.

Kushina insisted that myself and Hiro-kun would eventually come across an opponent that we couldn't just beat with out Byakugan, and would need this extra training.

"I don't think anyone can beat a blood line," He had scoffed "that's what makes them unique."

Anko slapped him upside the head and scowled at him.

"A technique is never unbeatable, if it were then you Hyuuga's would be the rulers of everything but you're not, are you?"

Hiro-kun rubbed his head but remained silent as Kushina-sensei handed out her chakra paper, pump some chakra in and the paper would tell you what your chakra was, be it fire, earth, water or wind based chakra.

Anko's piece of paper crumbled into ash, and Kushina-sensei smiled encouragingly as Hiro-kuns paper did much the same as Anko's had. I focused on mine, and watched as it crumbled onto the ground heavily.

"Two fires and an earth style ninja." Kushina-sensei had grinned in excitement, which meant she _so _had something planned and we were _not _going to enjoy it.

Kushina-sensei used unusual and cruel ways of training us, and although it really did get results it was hellish to endure.

"So…what's yours?" I asked her hesitantly but Kushina-sensei, as always, was more than happy to answer my question.

"My chakra is best suited to water, but as you know jounin tend to have two different styles so I use earth as well." She winked at me "So I'll be spending some one-on-one time with Sho-chan whilst you two will be getting outside help."

I beamed up at her and Anko nudged my side playfully, Hiro-kun huffed but it wasn't very committed almost like he couldn't be bothered to put the effort in.

To be quite honest, Hiro-kun was so much better than when we had started working together as a team. He'd come to understand that I was not a Hyuuga bastard and that the hatred his parents held should not reflect on his own emotions.

So when we weren't in public (to be read as, near the Hyuuga's) we were friends. Anko thought it was stupid that he had to act like he hated me whenever he saw his direct family, the Hyuuga elders (who seriously had it in for me) and some of the more hateful cousins we had.

"Who will train us?" Hiro-kun asked with a smirk of his own, with just the two of them to focus on one task teaching should really go much quicker.

"I haven't decided yet," The two of them groaned "but training wont start for you two till next week."

Anko growled in her throat and kicked the dirt, I had never met a person as impatient as Anko before in my life. She really was terrible, and even though she was pretty much our team leader when Kushina-sensei wasn't around I was always the one who did the written work.

My brothers thought it was a great way to improve my language skills and openly encouraged it, which meant Anko gave me even more team paperwork to do. I didn't mind particularly, I'd always enjoyed English before but it was the principle that as our team leader Anko should have been writing the reports.

"Wait, does that mean she starts today?" Hiro-kun asked, and Kushina-sensei nodded with a grin.

"You two will have D-rank missions this week-" Cue groans "-and next week you'll have a sensei."

Really the two of them couldn't complain, out of the three of us I was the only one who _hadn't _had one-on-one training with Kushina-sensei, I knew they didn't mean it however because as they walked off to their first mission of the week Anko threw me a wink and Hiro-kun ruffled my hair affectionately.

Kushina-sense smiled serenely "You three have really grown."

She seemed lost in memories so I waited a few moments and sure enough she shook her head (red hair slapping me in the face) and brought herself back to the present with a happy grin.

This woman just never stopped smiling.

"You already have some of the best chakra control I've seen from the Hyuuga's in years-"

"Not really."

"-but I'd like to see the extent of your control." She gave me a sly wink "I know you can do the main house technique."

I blushed. So, maybe I had watched Hiashi practising a few times and maybe I had tried copying him but I hadn't exactly mastered it. It was hard to master something when you didn't have a teacher, but I wanted to help Hinata and Neji when they were finally born so learning the kaiten was an arduous necessity.

Plus it helped to have a trump card.

Kushina wouldn't tell anyone, apart from maybe Minato and he would keep it very hush-hush because he knew about the traditions we Hyuuga's held to so strongly. Ridiculous things if I'm perfectly honest, but until the elders lost some of their stubbornness (or they died, that'd probably happen first) the traditions would not be changing anytime soon.

"We'll start with something easy," Kushina-sensei decided "try this one, it's called the stone fist."

* * *

When I arrived home at the Hyuuga estate I was exhausted, I'd used up almost all of my chakra mastering that single move, and Kushina-sensei had called it simple! Hiashi had seen me walk in with Hiro-kun, covered in dirt and looking exhausted and had laughed at my story.

"Well I just hope Kushina knows not to push you too hard." He had smiled waving to Hiro-kun as he bowed and left for his own small home.

I was more than happy to be pushed, Kushina-sensei helped all my team excel and whilst we weren't geniuses we weren't average either.

"Come on _imouto, _Hizashi and Rei have something to tell us." Hiashi winked as he lead me into our large dinning room.

I stood straighter when I noticed that even the Hyuuga elders, members of the house council, had gathered to hear whatever announcement it was that Hizashi and Rei had to make. I sat at my place and kept my back straight, my eyes level and my hands respectfully in my lap.

Hizashi and Rei walked in, Hizashi had an arm wrapped around Rei's shoulders, whilst Rei had her hands clasped in front of her like she was itching from the excitement of it all.

"We have some news," Rei began but Hizashi was far too excited to let her finish and looked at me and Hiashi.

"You two are going to be an aunt and an uncle!"

Hiashi leapt up and clapped him on the back with a huge grin, and I moved to give Rei a gentle hug as Maya (now Hiashi's wife) smiled happily for her brother-in-law.

That night after we had eaten dinner and celebrated, I lay in my room and stared up at the ceiling.

Neji was one year older than Naruto, which gave me around two years if I included that nine months Rei would suffer carrying Neji. Well, I say suffer, Hizashi would be the one suffering because I meant what I said before; Rei has one hell of a right hook.


	9. Chapter 9

The chunin exams were an absolute disaster. I was almost eleven when they happened, and (thank whatever deity rules this world) Kushina-sensei hadn't put us forwards for it because we weren't 'meshing well as a unit.'

"_We _are," Anko hissed draping her arm over my shoulders and glaring pointedly at Hiro-kun.

His parents had been furious since Juzo's punishment after his blatant attack on not only my life but the life of my team.

Hiro-kun included.

However, his mother seemed to think the punishment was not severe enough after her son had been put in the firing line, his father thought it was _too _severe because how could Juzo-sama have known that the mission had already been completed?

The system wasn't complicated, the moment a mission was reported complete the mission was removed from the lists so Juzo-sama must have put it back in.

It was only good fortune that meant we had gotten the mission, well good fortune for Juzo-sama less so for us.

He had been house bound since the incident, and it didn't look like he'd be released anytime soon so some of the family had become quite abashed.

"Really," I cooed down at Neji who was snuggled in a blanket in my arms "what did they expect attacked one of the main families closest relatives?"

Neji peered up at me with big innocent lavender eyes, eyes that almost matched my own. My hair was no longer caramel, but a deep dark brown that during night could pass for black. My eyes were more violet than my relatives but generally I looked like every other Hyuuga.

Didn't stop the hate, just meant I was the Hyuuga freak instead of the Hyuuga bastard.

Hizashi was mourning, he adored Neji but he had lost the love if his life and Neji was only two months old and needed a female figure.

If Hizashi needed some time then myself or Maya would look after Neji. It wasn't often though, I'd only been asked twice and Maya once because Hizashi was so dedicated to his son.

"Neji is so like you it's scary." Hiro-kun had hissed when he had seen me with him and I glared.

"Never, ever speak about my nephew in such a hateful tone ever again," I snarled and even Anko looked taken aback "and I'm glad he's like me, maybe he wont be as hateful as you."

Anko grinned and ruffled my hair like she always did when she was particularly proud of something I'd done, maybe because Kushina-sensei did the same thing.

"You don't get it do you?" Hiro-kun asked, sagging as he practically dropped himself onto the floor to sit.

I frowned, and carefully manoeuvred so I was sat down across from him with Neji gurgling happily at the strange movements before Anko joined us both on the Hyuuga floor.

"You never did tell me…" I muttered thinking back "why do they hate me?"

Hiro-kun looked at the floor as he spoke, not daring to meet my eyes.

"Rei didn't die in childbirth, neither did your mother." He muttered and I almost dropped Neji.

"Come again?" Anko demanded her fists clenched.

"It's not a curse exactly…but sometimes when a child is born premature, like you and Neji-"

Neji had been almost two months premature and even now he was a tiny little thing, but I knew he'd grow because he was a strong baby and he was surrounded by happy loving people.

"-the child has an special instinctive chakra, it sucks up the chakra around them to keep them alive-"

"Are you saying," Anko asked slowly "that in order to save themselves, Sho-chan and Neji sucked up their mothers chakras and…killed them?"

Hiro-kun finally looked away from the floor and gave the slightest of nods.

"Rei became ill soon after didn't she?" I asked and Hiro-kun nodded again.

"That's why I got ill, my mother was ill _before _I was born then I fell ill afterwards with the same thing," I was slowly connecting the dots in my head "when my mother died, it pretty much killed father and it was a huge knock to the family right? That's why nobody likes me, I killed mother and father."

Anko clearly wanted to clap me over the back of the head, but Neji's gurgling reminded her that this would be a bad idea. I cooed down at him, well, this certainly explained a lot.

Normally the sons take over the family but because my uncles had died young my mother became head of house, and married one of her close cousins in order to keep the bloodline pure. Things had become less stressed about that since we had no cousins to marry to but the family had admired both my mother and father.

"Never had a better head." One of the Hyuuga elders had told me once before resuming his usual tirade about my stances and such.

"The doctors told your mother to end the pregnancy, you were killing her before you'd even been born but your mother was stubborn, refused to let you go."

I nodded and looked at Neji, I worried about favouring him in the future because of this unlikely link we had. Did this mean in another world, in the world I had watched on screens and read in books, that my mother had terminated the pregnancy? Had I simply not been born?

"Why are you so foul about it then?" Anko demanded as she waggled her fingers over Neji's face.

Nobody could resist an infant.

"My mum and yours were seconds cousins, they were really close before…you know." Hiro-kun sighed slumping even further down, it looked like he wanted to melt into the floor but didn't know how.

I wonder if earth jutsu covered that, could be handy to learn in case of a bad situation.

"So she hates me for killing her friend." I clarified as Hizashi came walking down the corridor to collect Neji.

I stood and smiled at him as he reached for his son. Neji squealed in delight when he saw his father and Hizashi's face lost years of stress and worry when he smiled down at him. This was when it was best, when Hizashi could still see his wife but also see the future too.

"He's going to be a great ninja." I told him and he blinked up at me smiling.

"Thank you _imouto, _maybe one day you will teach him." He suggested with a laugh and I shrugged my shoulders.

"In the springtime of youth, anything could happen." I told him and Anko stood as we watched him go.

"Did you just quote Gai?"

* * *

That night there was an all village alert, and our entire team was pulled into action because of Orochimaru's attack on the chunin exam. Kushina-sensei had called us to the Hokage's tower-come-office along with Minato-sensei's team to keep guard over several of the leaf's prized possessions.

I saw a large scroll full of forbidden jutsu's, actually I saw hundreds of them and wondered what glorious skills you could learn from them. I also reckoned that most of them weren't even forbidden anymore, when had someone last been over these things? The kage bunshin was a jounin level technique but it wasn't _forbidden _like we had all been lead to believe at the start of Naruto's adventure.

Orochimaru wouldn't come here, I knew he wouldn't. He had already ruined the chunin exams, kidnapped twelve (not ten this time) aspiring genin and now he was just sticking around to gloat.

How many of these belonged to the Hyuuga's? How many secrets could I learn with a well-forged signature? What could I learn that could help everyone else?

Those kinds of thoughts are dangerous, I told myself, craving power is never good no matter what reason you want it for. I remembered something I once read on the internet 'every antagonist is the protagonist of their own world'.

Obito was a prime example of this but I put that particular thought to rest, I had almost fifteen years before he even appeared and more than enough time to prepare for the worst, and the best.

"We should go out." Anko decided, quite suddenly and I rolled my eyes at her.

Blunt as ever, some things just never changed.

"We're on a mission?" Asuma grunted from his post beside the door with Gai, whilst Anko was stood in the centre of the room and the rest of us (me, Kakashi and Hiro-kun) were positioned by the windows.

I watched an explosion with mild disinterest, I doubted Orochimaru was even here anymore which meant that several of his grunts were meeting bloody ends. Kakashi had a similar expression but his was way cooler than mine I can assure you.

My reflection looked tired, even though by Hyuuga standards the bags under my eyes were barely there because of the paleness of my skin I looked absolutely exhausted. Kushina-sensei's workouts were making me stronger and killing me at the same time.

"Not now," she hissed "after all of this is over. We should all just go out and enjoy ourselves."

It wasn't, in my mind, a bad idea. The only people I'd hung out with were Anko and Hiro-kun, and my family and even though I loved them all dearly I really needed to interact with my generation more.

I had very few cousins my age, older and younger cousins I had plenty but most were either too old to care for my company or too young to provide any stimulating conversation. A group like this, of these people, now that would be fun.

Gai and Asuma both looked like they were going to protest when surprisingly, Kakashi voiced his opinion about it.

"Sounds like a plan."

We all stopped and stared for a second, before Anko hastily made plans for us all to meet up in two weeks when all the hype would have died down, at least everyone hoped it would have by then but during a war there were always problems.

Two weeks flashed by, and thus it was upon us.

Was I nervous? Well, maybe just a little.

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	10. Chapter 10

**You'd be surprised how much more writing you do if you simply use a smaller font.**

Anko tugged me along through the village, Hiro-kun had declined the offer to join us saying he and his parents would be out enjoying the festival (that just-so-happened to be on the same day Anko had chosen for us to meet) with his parents and younger sister.

I wasn't reluctant per-say but I hadn't done this before, not with anyone other than Anko and Hiro-kun and other than a few missions I didn't know any of these ninja personally.

"I can see them!" Anko exclaimed waving her hands manically in the air and catching the attention of Gai and Kurenai (who Asuma had insisted on bringing along)

They welcomed us warm enough and Kurenai actually thanked us for the opportunity to gather as a group of regular friends, I had to insist that it was all Anko's idea for about five minutes before Asuma finally insisted we move on and have a look around.

A festival during a war may seem foolish, but it helped raise the morale of the entire village and not just the ninja either, literally _everyone _cheered up during a festival. I knew for a fact that Hizashi, Hiashi and Maya along with Neji (whom I had taken to calling Ji-chan) would all be out tonight enjoying the festivities.

They'd promised not to embarrass me if they saw me with my friends, which meant they were going to embarrass me if they saw me with my friends. I was eager to avoid such a scenario.

"Lets grab something to eat first," Anko grinned "I'm starving!"

I snickered and shook my head, "You're always hungry." I informed her and she gave me a gentle friendly tap over the back of the head.

"A good appetite is a sign of youth!" Gai insisted and Kurenai snorted.

"Or a fat stomach."

We laughed (well, Kakashi kept that cool I-don't-care face on) and moved towards the nearest food stand. They were serving these steaming dumplings, piled with three on a stick and being sold dead cheap. I held my stick hesitantly, I'd never actually…eaten junk food since becoming a Hyuuga.

They were so formal and etiquette amongst those closest to the main family was so uptight that I'd not had finger foods in absolutely years. I watched Anko bite into hers, she seemed to have no qualms with manners and even Asuma was eating like a pig.

Gai had already devoured his, Kurenai was nibbling hers and Kakashi had politely declined. I peered at mine again and took a tentative bite.

"This is delicious." I smirked around my full mouth and then continued to eat my food, relishing every bite until there was nothing left but the blunt stick.

Anko seemed pleased enough with the result as we all finished, I passed her my stick out of pure habit and she tossed them both with extreme accuracy into the nearest bin. Kakashi made a nonchalant comment about it.

"Impressive."

Anko snorted at what she assumed was his derision, but after I nudged her she caught her tongue. Anko took everything as a challenge, but I was still worried about what had happened. Clearly, through my inadvertent meddling (or, you know, my general existence) Anko had not ended up in the chunin exam and hadn't been taken by Orochimaru.

I was more than happy at the result, but it also worried me a lot too. It meant that my existence was changing the way things were happening without me even doing anything.

"Come on, there are plenty of things to do!" Asuma cheered as we moved to the first mildly entertaining stall.

"Plus," Gai muttered to Kakashi "it's not like we'll ever do this again."

Kakashi nodded in agreement, but little did they know this would be our tradition for years to come. Hey, the little things mattered.

The night was going great, it was starting to get late but the festival continued even as the number of people started to dwindle down we stayed. There would be a huge firework display near the Hokage's monument that lit the Hokage's faces up brilliantly.

"I think it makes them look terrifying," Kurenai admitted to me and Anko "bad enough they're always watching, when the light dances on their faces they look almost alive."

I giggled, enjoying the company and the chance to make new friends, when I was hit in the side of the face by a rather hot food substance I later learned was somebody's ramen.

I slapped it from my face, I meant it when I said it was hot because it scalded my skin red raw. Anko was already off screaming at someone furiously and Kurenai was trying to help me as I blinked boiling water from my eyes.

_That'll do wonders for my Byakugan._

"-the hell is your problem?!" I heard Anko screech as my vision finally cleared.

Kakashi placed a cold bottle of water on my face and made me hold it there, before he also turned to see who had so brazenly lobbed their food at me.

I saw a group of my older Hyuuga cousins sneering over at me, and I pacified my anger and made to do the same with Anko.

"Anko it's fine-"

"No!" She interrupted "It is not, _fine,_" she spat the word "they just attacked you!"

I smiled at her, hiding my pain under a forced joy. I'd get them later, when they were sleeping probably, I knew where they all slept so it wouldn't exactly be hard.

"It _is._" I insisted smiling at my relatives.

They hated that clearly, and it looked like one of them was reloading when Gai, Asuma and Kurenai decided now would be the time to step in and join Anko. Kakashi was stood beside me, making sure I kept the soothing bottle of icy water on my face.

"You're her family," Kurenai nagged "you're supposed to look out for each other."

Isamu, the ring leader of this particular group of Hyuuga (he was my third cousin thrice removed, and his siblings were nice enough singularly but gathered together they were foul creatures) snarled, actually snarled! At Kurenai.

Asuma took a warning step towards them and they started to slink away, but not before Isamu turned back to me.

"Wedding soon freak, you'd better watch yourself."

I watched them walk away, waving and smiling as they went. When they finally were out of site I pulled the bottle from my face and hissed a stream of curse words; effectively turning the air blue.

Anko moved over to check me but I flapped my hands and waved her away, my face still stung but the burning sensation had stopped.

I was more worried about my eye, the one that had been hit by the scalding water and alas, there were no mirrors anywhere near.

"I should probably head back." I muttered ruefully to Anko who sighed, glancing over at the fireworks, they hadn't even started yet.

"Stay." I ordered turning and starting the walk back to the Hyuuga estate.

Anko tried once to follow, before I told her it would be fine and insisted she rejoin the others. A few more steps along the path and I was joined by Gai.

"I don't watch them anyway." He insisted, "And it is very un-youthful to let a young lady walk home alone."

I scoffed "I'm no lady."

We walked home in a companionable silence but I still believe that Gai needn't have bothered, I didn't see any of my family until I reached the Hyuuga gates where I was practically ambushed by my brothers and sister-in-law. And Neji, of course but he wasn't involved other than sleeping silently in Hizashi's arms.

Maya was the first to notice us, and she raised her eyebrows in that knowing way when she saw Gai.

"Who is your friend?" She asked with a wink and Gai bowed deeply.

"I am Maito Gai, it is a pleasure to meet you."

I didn't slap my own face but it was a near thing.

"What on earth has happened to your face?" Hiashi demanded taking a great stride forwards and lifting my chin up.

Gai looked like he was about to explain the entire story when I jumped in and stopped him.

"I tripped, and uh-" I forced a blush "threw my ramen on my face."

I looked down at the floor, lie, complete lie we didn't even eat ramen. Not that they knew that and nor did they need to.

Hizashi snorted a laugh and jostled Neji into consciousness and so he started to wail. Hizashi sighed and started cooing at Neji to get him to sleep again.

I turned to Gai.

"Thanks again for walking me home Gai-san," I bowed to him now and he chuckled.

"Please, just Gai, and it was a pleasure I assure you." He bowed again to my family "I hope you all have a lovely night."

Once he was out of sight Maya nudged me excitedly.

"He's kind of handsome."

This time I did slap my face (the un-burnt side) and cursed whatever god ruled this land.

"I, do not, like, Gai."

Hiashi nodded.

"Suuuuure."


	11. Chapter 11

Kushina-sensei had stopped training us, and even though she tried her best to hide it I could see her growing bump. But, I had been looking for it since Neji was six months old so maybe that was why I could see it so soon.

"I don't see why you can't train us anymore sensei," Hiro-kun had grumbled, none of us wanted her to stop training us but pregnancy did that to you.

"I can't, I'm sorry." Kushina-sensei told us all, pinching his cheeks affectionately.

"But why?" He asked pulling away.

"Because she's having a baby."

We all stared at Anko, clearly I wasn't the only one that had noticed the ever-growing bump under her red maternity clothes.

"Oh come on!" Anko cried out in dismay, she turned to me "I know you've seen it for yourself!"

I blushed and dipped my head, to be honest I'm pretty sure I was the first to know because during training I had used my Byakugan.

Kushina-sensei looked at me curiously and I shuffled on my feet.

"You did drop the hint about children." Hiro-kun pointed out suspiciously and I tried to shuffled myself out of existence.

"You can…see my baby?" Kushina-sensei asked, I got the feeling she was slightly freaked out.

"Maybe." I muttered under my breath, Kushina-sensei puffed out her cheeks and then laughed at the three of us.

"Well, I'm four months pregnant. I tried to keep doing minimal training with you guys but I can't,'

"Minato has arranged for his own student, you all know Kakashi Hatake, to come assist you because of his variety of skills."

"Kakashi huh?" Anko asked with that creepy serene smile she reserved for when she was plotting something diabolical.

"Not just Kakashi," Kushina-sensei interrupted "several others have volunteered to help, they were quite enthusiastic about it actually."

Kushina-sensei and Hiro-kun were the only ones confused by their enthusiasm but me and Anko just shared a knowing look, that festival meeting hadn't been the last time we'd all gathered together. Kurenai had taken us both shopping, and for some reason Anko seemed particularly insistent on bringing Gai along.

I swear Hiashi and Hizashi were trying to set me up and now Anko was in on it good lord make it stop.

"Well, I'm sure you guys will do spectacularly until I get back."

My stomach dropped like stone to the ground and beyond, Kushina-sensei wouldn't be coming back. If she was telling the truth and not subtracting a month then we had six months. Six months and Kushina-sensei, Minato, they'd die and so would so many other villagers.

Kushina-sensei waved us goodbye before we started to stroll through the village, Hiro-kun and I would head straight home but we always walked through the village together.

"So, not only is Hiashi and Maya expecting," Anko drawled "but so is Kushina-sensei."

"We're having a baby boom." Hiro-kun agreed with a humble nod, and we all burst out laughing.

"Hiro-kun, you are the most confusing person I have ever met." Anko grunted bumping into him playfully.

Hiro-kun rubbed his arm and scowled, looking more than a bit put out so Anko decided to explain.

"Sometimes you are the greatest team mate we could ask for, and other times, well…" Anko searched for the right words "you're a complete ass."

I snorted, well that was something of an understatement. Hiro-kun drifted from being my defender to being one of my many tormentors depending on the company but I did somewhat understand it.

Hiro-kun had to keep his parents happy, it was a weird unspoken rule in the Hyuuga family that you did all you could to make your parents proud and that meant doing things you didn't like. I am almost one hundred percent sure that if my father were still here I'd be getting ready for an arranged marriage, but he wasn't here and I'm not.

"It's alright, I know that you're only keeping your parents happy." I smirked patting Hiro-kun on the shoulder as we walked.

"BY THE POWER OF YOUTH!"

I sidestepped the flying green beast of Konoha as he stumbled past me and straight into Kakashi, who for the first time seemed to not have been expecting Gai to come tumbling out of nowhere. They staggered to the ground where Anko and I both burst out laughing.

"Wow, I can't believe that I dodged that but you didn't." I snickered as Kakashi stood, brushing himself down with forced nonchalance.

"I was planning on you not." He admitted and I twitched, an angry grin forming on my face.

"You," I accused "were going to use me as a shield?"

He shoved his hands into his pockets, and nodded. Anko had covered her hand with her mouth in a vain attempt to cover the rambunctious giggling she was doing. Hiro-kun was studying Kakashi was animosity that I hadn't seen before.

"You're Kakashi Hatake then." Hiro-kun grunted and it was only then that Kakashi actually acknowledged him.

"Which makes you Hiro Hyuuga, the third and final team member." He smiled, eyes shutting "Pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard a lot."

I didn't fail to notice everyone's very quick look at me, or Gai and Kakashi's slightly longer look. They both looked like they were appraising Hiro-kun as some sort of enemy that they made need to dispatch in the future, which was sweet of them but totally unnecessary.

"I have heard much of you," he glanced at Gai "both of you."

I swear if it got any colder out here then I was going to start shivering, Hiro-kun just didn't like either of them. I dreaded to think what would happen when Kushina-sensei wasn't there to reel him in like she had always done.

I guess that would be my job soon, and I'd do a bloody good job of it too. Kushina-sensei as always trying to get him to socialise with people outside the family, but with limited success each time.

Hiro-kun had issues.

"Okay!" I announced suddenly, reaching forwards and grabbing Hiro-kuns arm whilst placing a big false smile on my face and then directing it at Kakashi and Gai.

"We'd better be off, see you guys around! Bye Anko!"

I then turned and walked swiftly aware, pulling Hiro-kun forcibly along behind me because it would not do to have a quarrel in the middle of the village.

"They aren't the right kind of company to keep," Hiro-kun had informed me as we approached the Hyuuga estate "you're part of the Hyuuga family, a vital part too."

I kept silent, dropping his arm and walking straight to my little garden. The violet hyacinths were blooming along the edges now and I grabbed my watering can to revitalise them, making sure to give extra attention to the rose bush in the middle against the back wall.

My rock was starting to crumble, the elements taking their toll on it but I didn't have the heart to take it out or replace it.

"Hiro-chan was in a bad mood when I saw him,"

I turned and smirked at Maya, who had a gentle hand on her tiny little bump. Hinata was another reminder of things that had to change. Like hell was I going to let Hizashi die a second time around, I knew it was coming and I even had a date.

"We bumped into some friends, Hiro-kun didn't like them." I answered shrugging my shoulders.

Six months.

"I wonder why." Maya smirked knowingly before she sat carefully on my small table, the one I'd had since before I could remember (literally, I still had no real memories of life before the age of eight) and was only big enough for a child.

"Well, I don't think they liked him either so it's all just a bit of tit-for-tat." I explained and she snickered.

"You act so grownup Sho-chan, sometimes I forget that you'll be twelve next month."

Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about my twelfth birthday. Well, that wouldn't be a surprise to anyone because I always forgot about it, that's why whenever they threw a surprise party I was genuinely surprised. I never knew what it was for.

"Oh yeah." I muttered and Maya laughed.

"Never mind, I take that back."

I scowled at her and carefully closed my paper door and helped Maya to stand. She wasn't far gone, but everyone was so careful of her because Hinata would be the new heir to the family.

"Come on, dinner will be getting cold." I grunted leading the way, ignoring her laughter as I tugged her gently along.

Six months, then everything went to hell.


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm going to try and reply to all reviews now guys, sorry it took me a couple of chapters!**

**Kayo-san, pretty much. Seems pretty unreasonable but it's the same principle as what happened with Naruto, hopefully with a quicker happy ending.**

**Guest, I'm afraid I don't quite understand the review, do you not want romance or do you? I was planning on having some but it was going to be a subplot to the main one.**

**December 25****th****, who knows what will happen? Oh wait, I do, haha.**

**Guest, he isn't, but I can't exactly imagine him with someone without making a fool of himself and completing embarrassing her at the same time.**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**

One of the last moments of peace I had before the events of October tenth had to be my twelfth birthday, which was spent with family and friends alike.

It was by far the greatest birthday I had celebrated with my family so far, there wasn't anything particularly good about it per say but for some reason it was just great.

In the morning I had eaten a great traditional breakfast with my family whilst they passed me various gifts, even Ji-chan had handed me a present.

"Sorry," Hizashi apologised handing the damp box to me "Neji likes chewing on things."

I giggled and pulled open the box carefully.

Inside was an ornate hair clip, one that Hizashi had obviously taken a great amount of time in choosing because his gifts for me were usually something to do with crafts or my garden. I stared at it for several long seconds, before I looked at him with a grin.

"This, is brilliant."

He sighed with relief and sagged and I laughed at him, Ji-chan then giggled and reached for his fathers hair and Hizashi had to make sure that Ji-chan didn't eat it. Maya moved around the table and helped me fasten the clip to my hair and pull my fringe from my forehead.

A lot of the branch family kept their fringes in front of their foreheads to cover their seals but I had no such qualms, which was another cause of distrust in the family but I wasn't trying to be rebellious.

I was just trying to get the message across that I could love my entire family, seal or no seal.

It really was a beautiful clip, covered in pale white lilies that sparkled in the light of the sun that shone that day.

Hiashi handed me a slightly larger, and way heavier package that I needed help lifting.

"Good grief." Maya had muttered as I had opened it.

The package was a weights jacket, an old Hyuuga method of training. Gai used weights on his arms and legs whilst the jacket would be, obviously, on my torso. This was a really extensive way of building muscles everywhere all at once.

The jacket would be well hidden under anything I decided to wear, and the actual weight of the jacket could be altered so that it began light (or at least lighter than it currently was) and gradually got heavier.

Maya gave me several new weapons and a pouch to put them in that I could strap to either my arm or my leg without looking conspicuous.

"It also doubles as a civilians purse, if you're ever undercover on a mission." She had grinned and I had applauded her ability for choosing practical gifts.

Several other cousins, had given me small trinkets in secret by placing them in my room and simply letting me find them. I used to be bothered about the secrecy behind it, but I knew it was only because they'd be mocked by the crueller members of the house.

The hatred no longer had a cause anymore, although the brown shine my hair had would never leave, and my eyes would always have a pale blue tint instead of lilac I know looked like a true Hyuuga. Yeah, my instinctive chakra had killed my mother, so had Ji-chans and he wasn't hated.

They needed someone to hate, it would seem, and they had chosen me.

The gifts were welcomed happily, one of my cousins had given me a perfume she'd made herself and it smelt deliciously sweet.

"Hey there!" Anko called leaping into my room casually and I grinned.

"Hey Anko, what're you doing here?" I asked, we normally met in the village because Anko didn't like coming into the Hyuuga estate.

Anko felt like everyone was looking down on her in here, because of her civilian parents and no clan history. Even the Uchiha didn't do that and their relations with the village were beyond terrible, even if they did have control of most of the Anbu.

"I am here to tell you, that we have no missions today." Anko smirked leaning on the door frame and I nodded waiting for her to continue.

"I have also been informed that you are to wear something pretty and delicate," Anko clearly wanted to laugh now and she had that shine in her eyes whenever she thought something was funny, her lips twitched upwards.

"and that you are not permitted back home until five o'clock tonight."

I frowned, but said nothing as I grabbed the pretty frock my cousin Hiroji-kun had given me before I applied the sweet smelling perfume. After a short moments hesitation I decided that I would bring Maya's purse with me.

You never could be too careful.

Anko lead me through the estate and out into the village, where I was greeted at Ichiraku's by the rest of my friends and Hiro-kun.

"Happy birthday!" Kurenai grinned handing me a box with everyone's collective name on it bar Hiro-kuns.

"Thanks guys!" I grinned gently prising the lid from the box to see what was inside.

"Holy -" I looked up at them from the box "how much did this cost?"

Inside the box was a very fine looking pair of knuckledusters, they were not black or in any way like a conventional pair of knuckledusters. They'd clearly been prepared specially, for instead of black they were a dulled out silver and they were much heavier too.

"They're built for your chakra." Asuma explained, bringing his own pair up (the pair that we had ironically bought him for his fourteenth earlier that year)

"They're fantastic!" I told them bringing one out of the box to try on.

Even though they were heavier than normal knuckledusters, they felt perfect when I wore them and when I put the slightest amount of chakra in them the weight grew and so did the power behind them.

I grinned at them all, and they all grinned back, happy at my response to the gift.

"Oh! Hiro has something for you as well." Kakashi told me, and for a second he lost the smile but it was soon back.

I turned to Hiro-kun, and he handed me a small paper-wrapped gift that he had gotten for me himself. Upon opening I discovered a small buddleia sapling and I stared at it for several long moments before thanking him.

"That will look lovely in your garden." Anko commented offhandedly and I bumped into her shoulder.

From then until five we spent the day celebrating, and just generally enjoying ourselves until five came around the corner and I was escorted home.

Having all my friends there when my family sprang their 'surprise' party was somewhat embarrassing, made only worse when Maya made sure I was sat with Gai to my left. Anko was sat across the table with an odd look on her face that I wasn't quite sure was a good thing, but Hiro-kun was beside her and he was giving Kakashi a funny look.

Kakashi was sat to my right, adjusting the way I was currently holding my knuckledusters because I was wearing them too low on my hands.

I wasn't aware there was a correct way to hold knuckledusters but Kakashi was quite insistent.

"Wearing regular knuckledusters like that could break your knuckles entirely, these ones would only bruise them but that would still be quite unpleasant."

I nodded and slipped them higher up and held them for my family to see, Hiashi looked very approving of the gift. Kurenai had also extensively admired my hair clip, and Asuma had taken several long moments to pretend he was looking at it so he could stare at her.

How had nobody noticed? Seriously!

Hiashi decided now was the time to embarrass me and tapped his glass with his fork, calling everyone's attention.

"I'm very glad that my _imouto _has made such great friends," He began and I groaned and placed my head in my hands.

"Please Maya make it stop!"

Everyone laughed and Hiashi continued with a knowing smirk on his face. Oh, he was enjoying this, he was seriously enjoying this cruel and unusual punishment.

"and I hope that they understand any damage, physical or otherwise to her will not be tolerated."

Hiashi's voice was silky smooth but you couldn't hear him over the sound of my banging my head on the table.

Overall, it was the greatest birthday I'd ever celebrated. Yet, just as I knew it would, October tenth rolled around and the peace was gone.

Hell had arrived, but this time it had some competition.


	13. Chapter 13

**College is over! Whoop!**

**December 25****th****, as always, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and hope that you continue to!**

**Kayo-san, I love the fluffy scenes but I suck at writing them, they will be there I swear it! But I can't guarantee the quality!**

**Scarlet rose white, this is the night! The story has begun!**

**NumberOneNarutoFan, Wonder no more! Enjoy!**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**

There is no way to explain the night of October tenth to someone who wasn't there, even when I knew it was coming I couldn't have been prepared for what happened.

Two days before, Kushina-sensei had come and spoken to us all discretely and had said her goodbyes.

Mine felt more painful, because I knew it truly would be a final farewell and not just a simple see you later.

"We'll watch over your kid," Anko grinned after we had all given Kurenai-sensei a careful hug.

"We promise." I added sincerely and even Hiro-kun nodded his eager agreement.

"I'm very thankful, but only one of you can be his sensei." She had grinned before Minato had come and collected her and we never saw her again.

I couldn't sleep that night, and it was a good thing too because I was out of my bed like a shot when the first explosion rang through the entire village. I leapt from my room and towards Ji-chans room where Hizashi was also asleep.

Well, he wasn't anymore because he already had Ji-chan in his arms when I reached him.

"What's happening?" He demanded keeping a wailing Ji-chan very close to him as the house shook again.

"How on earth would we know?" Hiashi demanded running up behind me and grabbing my shoulders as I wobbled with the entire house.

"Evacuate the house!" I screamed suddenly and Hizashi nodded, Maya had already been evacuated and soon every other child would be joining her, as well as other pregnant women and the elderly.

"Take Neji and go," Hizashi ordered handing me Ji-chan and I took him in my arms, desperate to get him as far away from here as possible.

"I'll get everyone out." I swore, turning and running down the corridors, gathering my young family as I went.

"Everybody needs to get to the Hokage monument right now! The older guys all need to take the younger children this is NOT a drill!" I yelled at them and Hiro-kun ran to me the first opportunity he got.

"Take Neji, I need to make sure every single person is safe." I bellowed at him over the din handing him Neji and leaping back into the fray that was my soon to be collapsed house.

I shot through the halls, ducking under falling debris and leaping over the debris that had already fallen. I was half way through the house when I was grabbed and pulled out of the way of flying rocks, and I span to see who had saved me.

"Anko!? You should be a the Hokage monument!" I screamed over the noise and she nodded with hard eyes.

"So should you!"

I shook my head furiously, and we both started running further into the house.

"Without my brothers here, I am the head of this family! It's my job to make sure that everyone is safe!" I cried out, skidding to a halt when my Byakugan instinctively activated.

I span on my heel and faced what had once been the entrance to the great hall reserved for the huge yearly family gathering or the occasional formal party.

"Who is in there?!" I yelled at the fallen entrance and I heard several screams in response.

"It'll be alright!" Anko called through and I lunged forwards and grabbed the largest piece of rock, together we both managed to drag it aside without anything falling into the doorway.

"Come on lets go!" I yelled at them and four Hyuuga's leapt from the room, the oldest must have been fourteen and I sent him in the lead towards the nearest clear exit.

"Can you see anyone else?" Anko demanded and I pointed back to the way we came.

"In the library, the old librarian and a couple others are in there and not moving. We get them out, then the place will be empty."

We shot down the corridors, Anko placing her faith in me as I lead the way taking the quickest available route but we still had to go back and round twice before we made it.

"Two of them are already dead," I muttered punching debris out of the air as it threatened to fall on Anko and the two children she was carrying.

The old librarian and her son were dead on the floor, he had tried to save her, his own broken body covering hers but clearly the explosion had been too much because there wasn't any life left in them anymore.

I turned and lead the way, smashing my way through the house now I knew that there wasn't anyone else left in. My fists were bloody but I kept punching through the walls until we came out into the daylight.

The sky had been dyed black with smoke and I could barely see the Hokage's monument, but still I lead the way with Anko close behind, a Hyuuga in her arms and another on her back. I darted around her, keeping everything aware from her that I could until we reached the safe haven of the monument.

But the entrance had been closed.

I screamed and smashed my broken bloody fist into the blockade, Anko screamed behind me and staggered when the monument shook worryingly. I stared into the monument, I could see everyone in there but I had no idea whether or not they could see me.

"I'm going to make as much noise as I can, maybe a Hyuuga will check it out!" I called to her, I didn't have to keep yelling and my throat felt raw but it helped, it kept me strangely calm.

I turned to the doorway and began smashing my fists against rocks, my blood smeared against it with every hit but Kushina-sensei's extensive taitjutsu training and the training from my brothers meant I had the physical and mental strength to keep pounding away.

I watched as heads turned towards us, they couldn't see me and I had to pray that one of the Hyuuga's had a look, that they came to our rescue and opened, the, bloody, door!

There was panicked movement from inside now and I stepped back as the sealed door was slowly moved aside.

"Hurry up!" I yelled pressing my shoulder to the boulder and helping them shove it aside.

I fell into an ungraceful heap on the floor when the boulder that was being used as a door finally revealed the entrance and I heard people calling our names as we were hauled inside into safety.

"What were you thinking running into the house like that?" Was the first thing I heard, and I glowered up at Hiro-kun as Asuma and Kurenai helped me sit against a wall.

I was so tired that I didn't get the chance to interrupt Hiro-kuns tirade, not that he would have let me the stubborn git as he continued to berate me as though what I had done was wrong somehow.

"Were you trying to be the hero? How stupid are you?!" He demanded, and yet again I was cut-off, but by one of my older relatives.

"Don't speak to Shoko-sama like that!" He bellowed and the room fell silent, I frowned over at him.

There was a little girl clinging to his leg, I realised she was one of the girls that we had found before we headed to the library. The Hyuuga's were all now yelling at each other and nobody really knew what to do.

"Uh, Shoko?" Anko puffed "You may want to do something."

I sucked in a breath, I was going to be without a voice if I had to keep yelling like this.

"Enough!"

I waited until all the muttering amongst my family had stopped before I addressed them all, but it didn't take as long as I had imagined it would considering the general disagreement about my status in the family.

"I went back because my family means everything to me, because whilst our elder relatives and my own two brothers are out fighting we have our fight. We must keep each other safe, that is our battle today and it is one I don't intend to fail.'

"Perhaps what I did was reckless Hiro-kun, but if it came down to it I would do it again. Any questions?"

Their was silence, and I let my family return to their own devices as they had been before. I turned to Anko and grinned at her, she was exhausted but her injuries were minor.

"I think you broke your hands."

I snickered, and peered down at my bloody hands. I couldn't feel the pain yet, I knew I would once the adrenaline had run out but until then I was going to enjoy the numbness as Kurenai wrapped them daintily.

"I just wish we could see what was going on." Asuma grunted and I stared at him.

"You are surrounded by a family of people who can see for miles based on chakra, and you haven't thought to ask one of them to take a look?"

"We did," Kakashi told me, he was the only of our group standing, his arms folded against his chest "but something out there is ruining their view of the battlefield, they said it looked like a great monster made of chakra."

Ah, that would be the nine tails.

"So we're blind and helpless." Anko growled, but we weren't, not entirely.

"Maybe not."


	14. Chapter 14

It took a few moments to explain the technique, but once I had the entire group and even a few of the jounin that had been assigned our protection were for it.

"It's a bit like the Byakugan but with touch instead of sight," I explained "using my earth chakra I can push it out and pull it in again like ripples on water. These ripples give me an idea of what's going on around me."

"So you're seeing with your chakra…and your feet?" Gai asked to clarify and Kurenai clapped him over the head.

"Just give her some chakra already, we need to know what's going on out there." One of the jounin grunted, we were all eager to see what was going on right now.

I walked over to the boulder/door and went to slip my shoes off, but when I looked down I realised that I hadn't even bothered to put them on. I tsked, that was going to make the image a bit blurry, but I'd just have to work around it.

I planted my feet and turned them slightly inwards, holding out my arms for Anko and Hiro-kun to take hold of. Then the others connected and after a moment I felt their chakra flowing steadily into my arms and down towards the floor.

I pushed out the chakra in small waves, feeling them rush back and then pushed them further out in larger ways until I could feel the waves of chakra cascading down the monument and further into the village.

My eyes were pressed shut and I gripped Anko and Hiro-kun tighter as the carnage got worse. I ignored the state of my own home, and bodies all around as I pushed out towards the edge of the village where I knew the battle would be.

_Just a little further…_

Maybe I had spoken out loud because the chakra flow got thicker and the waves were pushed ever further out. This was going to take the life out of all of us once it was finished, but until then I pushed forwards.

I could see it now, the kyuubi. It sucked up the waves of chakra and I worried about making it stronger, yet I knew the measly chakra we were sending out would be nothing compared to what it already had.

I could see Obito, stood watching nearby.

I could see Kushina-sensei and Minato, impaled, protecting their son.

The image was burning into my mind, I knew they would die but knowing something and accepting it were completely different feelings. My head hurt, the pain was sharp and stabbing into the back of my eyes but I daren't pull away yet.

_For gods sake Shoko enough!_

The image shattered and I wheezed out a harsh breath as I was pulled off of my own feet, the voice had been Kakashi, not my own internal monologue as I had thought it was. I could feel blood dripping from my nose, and when I coughed blood sprayed the air.

"You just don't know when to stop do you?" Gai asked as I was placed on the ground, I didn't even try and sit up I was so exhausted.

Kakashi lowered my head down gently but refused to let me curl up. Everyone slumped to the floor, sweating and pale as they waited for something, anything from me. I sucked in breath after breath, wishing to be able to explain.

"Minato…" I coughed again but muddled through the strange wheezy feeling all over my body.

"Minato…and Kushina…" Another quick inhalation "_dead._"

For several hours there was silence, nobody had dared to make a sound and if I could have I'd have stopped my desperate gasping. I couldn't sleep because every time I closed my eyes I could still see the images I had volunteered to search for earlier, and after four hours we were collected and escorted back down to the village.

I lead the Hyuuga's, standing tall in front of them despite my exhaustion and marching towards our village. Our worn, destroyed and broken village.

Soon children were running towards their parents, and those that couldn't spot theirs broke into sobs. I kept my head up, even though I wanted so desperately to call for my brothers and look around like the rest of my family was.

"Lady Hyuuga."

I turned, a weary looking council member was approaching me, he wasn't a Hyuuga so he must be one of the Hokage's personal council advisors.

"Can I help?" I asked, limping over to him so he didn't have to come and clamber over the rubble to join me.

"I was just coming over to ask the Hyuuga's to assist with the rebuild," I nodded for him to continue "now I understand that of course, you will want to start with your own home but the village is in dire need-"

"I understand."

He nodded, and turned to go find someone else to pester. Even moments after the battle, they were starting again. The way he had addressed me made my stomach churn, did he know if my brothers were alive or not? He made it sound like I was already head and…no that couldn't be right surely.

"Shoko, are you alright?" Hiro-kun asked gently and after a stiff nod he turned back to his mother and father and I found my way to Maya.

She was holding Neji tentatively, and he was sniffling and preparing for a wailing fit I could just tell. I walked over to her and reached forwards, Neji squealed in delight and reached back for me and Maya was more than happy to hand him over.

"There are medics in the remains of the Hokage tower."

She mumbled her thanks and darted off, hand on her stomach, to go and make sure that she was alright. I wondered if this stress was why Hinata had always seemed so small in the original timeline, could stress do that to a child?

"Ji-chan, I haven't see either of my _nisan _yet and that doesn't bode well." I muttered to him, whenever I held Neji I tended to speak to him about things I'd never tell my brothers.

In fact I told Neji everything, he was a year old now but it was hard to forget when I got started on one of my one-sided heart-to-hearts.

Neji was starting to grasp the concepts of words now, if only just because his tongue still hadn't worked out how to manoeuvre with his lips but bless him he was trying.

"Da!"

I nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll be here soon. I reckon they were on the front line so that's why it's taking so long."

"Hinaaaaaash! Da!"

I nodded and huffed out a sigh, but I span when I realised what those words meant.

"NISAN!" I yelled running over to my brothers and wishing I could throw my arms around them.

Fortunately for me, Hizashi and Hiashi seemed to understand and dutifully wrapped themselves around me, after a moment Hizashi took Neji and gripped him tight to his chest and Hiashi thankfully did the same for me.

I squeezed him tightly and he returned the favour, he smelt like blood and destruction but still he smelt so remarkably like himself that I wanted to inhale deep into my nose and shut my eyes forever.

"It's alright _imouto, _I promise it'll get better I swear." He soothed and I realised I was sobbing into his chest.

I pulled away after a few more hesitant moments, Hizashi reached forwards around Neji and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead and I believed him, I believed Hiashi that it would get better.

Once you've hit the bottom, it can only get better from there, things had to go up.

"We need to check the house, find the dead." Hiashi grumbled his hand still resting on the back of my head even though I had pulled away, I flinched at the idea of searching out the dead.

"The house is in ruins," I told them "most of the east wing has collapsed and there is no longer a south wing."

Hizashi looked crestfallen and Hiashi kept his lips pressed together in a thin line, but he was staring at me carefully and his eyes were scanning me for injuries.

"How do you know that?" Hizashi asked, clicking on to Hiashi's train of thoughts.

Damn twin senses.

"I uh…"I coughed to clear my throat "may, have been in there when it collapsed?"

I had never seen my brothers look more alike, they both went deathly white and swayed on their feet dangerously. I patted them both reassuringly on the shoulders and waited for them to snap out of it which took a couple of minutes.

"You were _in the house?!_" Ah there it is.

I tried to placate them but it was useless, that was until my defender from earlier approached with his wife and child and bowed deeply to all of us.

"Thank you Shoko-sama, if not for you I would be a father no longer."

I bowed in return and patted his daughter on the head as she beamed up at me, she was covered in soot but otherwise unharmed and that was all that mattered. My brothers dropped the subject, and I informed them of what the council elder had told me.

"Then, _imouto,_" Hizashi smiled sadly "we had better get started."


	15. Chapter 15

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! HOPE 2014 IS GOOD TO YOU ALL AND THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS.**

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**Tulip Out.**

The funerals were neither grand nor acknowledged in the coming months as families buried their dead without much fuss and then moved on to cleaning up, I myself had been placed in charge of a small troupe of Hyuuga's that were responsible for cleaning the living areas of our estate.

My earth jutsu was more than helpful, and this was probably why my brothers had given me this task. With a little help from my earth pillar jutsu the roofs of homes could be lifted up and supported by new beams.

Then several members of my team would rush in and restore the basics of the home and clean out any dead or dangerous objects. I was quite insistent about this, we could only provide the basics because of how many homes we had to secure but we could at least clear them properly.

It would be up to the residents to fix the insides, redecorate and build furniture but at least now they would have a home to live in. The Hyuuga estate had become a home for the homeless, as it was the first large structure to be safe enough to live in.

"So!" I called out and my team all stood to attention "We've successfully rebuilt the entire west grounds and the south grounds as well, all that is left for us to do is help the families move back in." I grinned at them, and they all smiled tiredly back.

It was exhausting work it really and truly was, but the north and east were being sorted by Hiro-kun and his little crew. The sooner we got the families in the sooner we could move on to the rest of the village and get on with life as normal.

Mostly, I mean, Minato and Kushina-sensei were gone (it was far to painful to think of them as dead) and the village had been practically levelled. Other than that, perfectly normal.

We set back to work, just as we had been doing for the past month-and-a-half. Moving the families back in did indeed take slightly longer than the actual building did but it was all part and parcel so we just muddled on through.

At the end of the day we all trudged back into the grand hall which had been converted into a shelter for the homeless and although there were considerably less people than before, it was still a large gathering and feeding them had been extremely difficult for those first gruelling weeks.

"Lady Hyuuga," a voice called and I detached from my team to the three Hyuuga elders than reigned over the hall as supervisors.

I bowed low to them, holding it for a few seconds before rising and standing as straight as I could manage. My popularity within the family had exploded after the attack, and I started to hear rumours less and less as time went by.

"the third wishes to speak with you, if possible could you see him immediately?" Kane asked lightly, he always did have a shy voice but he'd grown even quieter recently, his poor wife hadn't survived and his son had been injured severely in the fight.

"I will go now, please pass on my regards to the family in my absence." I smiled and bowed again, which I was happy to see they returned, before I turned on my heel and left to the see the third.

He was our Hokage once more, but the fact that we'd had a fourth and were now back on our third made our people nervous. Would we be attacked by other lands because our Hokage had technically retired? Ha, they'd rue the day that they tried.

I reached the Hokage's tower within five minutes and waited for only two outside the door, when I walked in I saw that Anko was there as well as several other genin and even a few chunin. It also didn't escape my notice that Kakashi was beside the thirds desk, I hadn't seen him since the monument but Anko had kept me updated when she visited.

He wasn't doing well.

"I have been told that each and every one of you did something reckless and rash during the attack on our village," He began and there were several audible inhalations but the third kept going "and because of this, I have decided to promote each and every one of you."

It wasn't a complete surprise really, there had been field promotions all over the board _during _the attack so it had only been a matter of time before the people involved were also promoted.

This lead to a droning speech that myself and Anko both ignored and started muttering, glad we had placed ourselves in the middle of the huddle of gathered ninja.

"Kakashi doesn't look well." I pointed out in a low voice, leaning over to Anko so she could hear me.

"He hasn't left the tower in four days." She responded and I winced, damn he was killing himself.

"Gai hasn't been much better." She remarked bitterly, Gai had lost his father during the attack and now he was a war orphan, one of hundreds.

"We need to talk to them." I decided and Anko nodded, peering over at Gai who was trying to bug a response out of Kakashi.

"You take Gai?" I offered and she nodded mutely.

I looked back at the third, he was talking to the entire group but staring at us both so I nodded grimly towards Kakashi and Gai, as though it would explain our rudeness. Apparently it did because his eyes left us and began to roam amongst the group as he finished and dismissed us.

Anko lead the way to Gai and Kakashi, Kakashi hadn't moved or responded in any way to Gai and Gai was starting to get agitated.

"Gai, can I have a word?" Anko asked gently, and Gai nodded stiffly, glaring at Kakashi and then giving me a polite nod before the two of them walked away.

Kakashi stared at me, and I realised that asking him to leave wasn't going to work.

"Let's go Kakashi." I said instead, reaching and grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the thirds desk.

He followed behind me without encouragement but I could feel the resistance, so I slid my hand down from the crook of his arm and pulled his hand from his pocket to grab that instead. I held it tightly until I had gotten him out into the herbal garden beside the hospital.

I let go and turned to him, taking in his pale face and the bags under his eyes. For several tense moments I didn't know what to say to him, but I steeled myself and started.

"How…no actually I wont ask that I can see the answer to that." I grunted but again I found no response, jeez he wasn't making this easy.

"Is…would you like to talk?" I asked, "and yes I know I should have probably started with that before I dragged you out here but I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that too.'

"But I know that he was like a father to you and I don't remember my father but I can imagine that would be quite devastating because you lost your real father too and I really need to stop talking."

I made a hoarse frustrated noise in the back of my throat and dragged my hand through my hair, I had had this all planned out in my head and now I was probably just making it worse. My thoughts drifted for a moment to Anko, and to Gai, who had also lost his father.

"Kakashi, my point is…even though you _are _hurt - deny it and I will hit you - you are not the only one hurting." I finished lamely and then shuffled my feet a couple of times.

Kakashi said nothing, then he turned on his heel and walked back to the Hokage's tower without looking back.

_Well, _I thought to myself, _that could have gone better._

I watched him for a moment before I turned, I had to get back home and help the families, I had spent too much time here anyway.

I did my best not to look back.

When Anko joined me later for dinner, she'd had a lot more success with Gai than I had had with Kakashi.

"He's mad that Kakashi is shutting off, he's hurting because he lost his father and he's trying to do everything at once but he can't." She had explained and I nodded.

"I get the feeling that Kakashi is going to explode." I confided "Dramatically. With a lot of smashing." I added with a sigh.

Anko snorted and tore into a piece of pork with unsurprising viciousness, she never ate like a normal human being it was always as if she had a personal vendetta against anything she was eating. And anything I was eating, I noted as she grabbed my salad and chomped on it angrily.

I only nibbled, watching my family quietly as they milled around the room eating, drinking and trying to bring each others spirits up.

"We'll get through to them," Anko told me "both of them. Promise."

I smirked "I'll hold you to that."


	16. Chapter 16

After almost six months the village was finally back on track, but there were still a few things that desperately needed fixing. Kakashi, for one was still locked inside his own little bubble of mourning and it was about time somebody was either let in, or forced their way in.

And thus, the first intervention was planned.

I say first, there would be several more over the years for several different people. This one was however, for Kakashi and his bubble of mourning.

"So, we get him out of his doom-bubble, how?" Anko asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Hit him, antagonise him, just make him explode." Kurenai suggested with a sad smile and I nodded.

"We each get to pick a method," I peered around the table of the small ninja café we practically lived at when not on a mission "who goes first?"

Gai and Asuma lifted their hands, Gai gave me his signature grin and a thumbs up.

"Don't worry Sho-chan! We will get the fire of youth burning in Kakashi once again!" He promised and despite myself I laughed, Asuma rolled his eyes and proceeded to drag Gai away before he could start passionately explaining how the fire of youth burned within his mind, body and soul!

Which he tended to do with freakish regularity and no shame whatsoever. I watched the two of them leave together, Gai was draping his arm around Asuma jovially and Asuma was pretending that he didn't like the contact.

_Boys._

I turned my attention back to Anko and Kurenai when I heard them bickering over Gai and Asuma and that's when I had a sudden thought, a bright bulb went off in my head and I stared wide-eyed and open mouthed at Anko.

"You're into Gai!" I shrieked and everyone turned, Anko leapt over the table to slap a hand over my mouth as her cheeks went crimson.

I pulled back and continued in a lower volume.

"I always thought you were into Kakashi, because of all those funny looks but it was Gai all along!"

All the blood had rushed to Anko's face and Kurenai was failing to hide her smirk and bubbling laughter.

"Please shut up." Anko begged and I clapped my mouth shut suddenly, still grinning like a madman.

"Oh god she's right isn't she!?" Kurenai gasped and we both started cackling like madwomen as Anko tried to sink into her seat and disappear.

We laughed and teased for a little longer before we got up, walking Kurenai to the Hokage's tower for her mission and waving her goodbye. She'd be away for a while, Asuma would start pining tomorrow and nobody else would know what was wrong with him except me.

It was just as things were meant to be.

"You know, Hiro-kun has been acting off lately." Anko muttered tensely as we walked through the village.

"Family problems. This have been tense lately, specially between Juzo's closest supporters and, you know, everybody else." I explained sadly.

Juzo was still under house arrest, he was going to face a Hyuuga tribunal soon and plead his case and his supporters would undoubtedly back him up. The Hyuuga tribunal would either let him go or keep him where he was, and considering both my brothers were on the tribunal the latter seemed most likely.

"That's not really what meant." Anko grinned but when I asked her what she meant she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head like she was hopeless.

"Jeez you are oblivious." She had informed me as we collected out latest payload.

Being a Hyuuga I didn't actually need the cash per say, I had an unlimited supply of cash that had been saved by the entire clan in the main family bank (I use the term bank loosely, we just stick all our valuables into a vault and hope nobody goes after it) and I'd get a small share at the age of eighteen and the rest would go back to the main family children.

However I had my own personal savings, I kept them pushed between my futon and the floor so that I could grab it whenever I needed it. I had no reason for this, other than it made me feel more comfortable because even though it may not have been real, my previous life was surrounded by money woes.

What if something happened? What if the economy failed or our family came into troubles? Every penny could help.

"Missions are getting paid less and less," Anko grumbled taking in her share miserably "I can barely afford the rent."

"Then just take mine, you know I'm loaded." I informed her dutifully as I did every time she mentioned cash.

"No."

I shook my head and let the issue drop, I'd sneak some cash into her purse when she wasn't looking and it'd be fine. I think she knows I do it, but she's too proud to ask for help so we've mutually agreed that this was for the best.

"How long before Asuma and Gai report their failure?" Anko asked giving Hiro-kun his share, he took it and nodded tersely.

"I give it two, maybe three days." I responded with a dull sigh, because Asuma could only deal with Gai for so long even if it was to try and help Kakashi.

"Hatake-san is foolish, everybody has lost someone yet he takes his grief to the next level." Hiro-kun scorned "He has even started dragging you down with him Shoko-sama."

"Leave Kakashi alone Hiro-kun," I spat right back "we are his friends it's our job to help him through his grief you plum."

Anko started to snicker.

"I have never heard someone called a plum before."

I sent her a side-glare but let it drop. Hiro-kun didn't even look abashed at my scorn, he'd always disliked Kakashi from the moment that they'd met and vice versa. It was a truly ridiculous hatred.

"Because you are his friends he has the right to drag you down? You are the plum Shoko-sama and you should find better friends."

I was silent with rage as Hiro-kun joined his own friends, a closed off group of Hyuuga with less IQ than I had in my pinky finger. Okay maybe they were smart but I was angry and he had just insulted my friends and some of the greatest ninja in the village (or at least they would be)

"Ignore him, you said it yourself;" Anko consoled "he's having family problems."

I grunted "He's going to have a family problem in a minute."

Anko just laughed it off, like she laughed off everything Hiro-kun said when he was in one of his funks.

"Come on, I need to eat before I starve!" Anko exclaimed dramatically, almost falling on my as she pretended to swoon.

"Come on then piggy, let's get you fed." I cackled letting her fall and running away, she roared jovially and charged after me.

Life was good, like I was going to let Hiro-kun spoil it.


	17. Chapter 17

**Leaving you hanging with the intervention, ahaha! Well, maybe you'll get to see one later on hey? I wasn't expecting anyone to be that interested in it, just a bit of filler but hey if you want it you can have it.**

**Shannyrox101, yaaaay! I am glad you support it, cause I wasn't sure I was very well ha.**

**Guest, I don't really write OC kids, but hey you never know.**

**MusicOfMadness, I have written several chapters already otherwise I would give you that intervention! I will try and write one later on for you, hopefully it will live up to standards (I actually scrapped an intervention cause I wasn't sure it would work, oops)**

**Read and Review guys!**

**Tulip Out.**

"Shut up, we don't want a running commentary."

I grinned "We don't always get what we want."

He stamped on my arm again and a scream wrenched itself from my throat because he'd been doing that all day and it was definitely broken at this point, to be honest I was getting kind of bored of the entire torture thing.

I mean, getting capture at thirteen wasn't anything special. The only thing really remarkable about it was that I'd managed to avoid it for so long, this was the first time I had been captured on a mission.

Anko roared at them when they stamped and stamped on my arm, before he tossed me backwards into the wall. Hiro-kun hung beside her, he'd already had his beaten and Anko hers, they were being very systematic about the whole thing.

"Just tell us what you know about the Kazekage's son and you can go home," One of them cooed "that's all we need to know."

"Kankuro's favourite colour is violet."

I kept up the jabs and jibes until they were bored of me, and shackled me to the wall as they had my team mates. The sharp shooting pain in my arm was hardly bearable but I gritted my teeth and waited till our captors had left before I let out a mewl of pain.

"You alright?" Hiro-kun asked in a low voice, as he and Anko were both strung up to my left and he was nearest.

I hissed through my teeth instead of replying, for fear I'd bite my own tongue in two because I was gritting my teeth so hard. Anko and Hiro-kun started muttering to themselves, asking each other why they wanted to know about Kankuro.

Except they didn't know that it wasn't Kankuro they wanted to know about, we'd been in the sand to deliver a gift to the Kazekage because of the new peace treaties (the war was slowly but surely ending) and I'd caught a glance of a small red haired child.

Gaara.

They wanted to know about Gaara and as far as Hiro-kun, Anko, and even the leaf new, the Kazekage only had one son.

Which put us in the precarious position of not knowing what they wanted whilst they evidently thought we did, plus we had no way of knowing where we were or if anyone knew we were gone. It took three days to get from the sand to the leaf, we'd sent a bird confirming our success and that we would be returning immediately.

That bird would take two days to arrive.

If we hadn't returned by the fourth day a bird would be sent back, asking for us. That was another two days, then another as the sand sent their bird back to confirm we had left. That was a week.

Then, it'd take another three days (two if they really pushed it) for the backup team to arrive at the leaf and god knows how long after that for them to find us.

I rounded that up to two weeks, we'd be down her for two weeks if we were lucky. We'd be dead if we were unlucky, hell we'd be dead even if we were lucky the moment they realised we didn't have what they wanted.

I lifted my feet and then kicked off my sandals, they clunked onto the ground heavily and dust filled the air where they landed.

"Are you sure you should do that?" Anko whispered, even though we were alone now in the room.

I pushed my feet against the wall, the room we were in hadn't been built from stone. It had been dug out in a rush and because of this the floor and walls weren't stone, they were rock and earth and I could feel what was around us using it.

I let my chakra flow out, rolling in easy waves through the earth as I pushed them further out with ease. My range was still limited to thirty feet, but thirty feet was still enough to find out just where I was for now.

We were in a basement of some sort, there was a building above of us with five people in. Four of them had ninja-level chakra and one of them was definitely a civilian, that or some kind of lackey they had employed.

We were surrounded by houses and civilian signatures, so maybe we were in a small town and the fifth person was just a civilian being friendly or maybe the entire town was in on it although that seemed unlikely.

"We're in a town." I hissed bluntly "Four ninja. One civ, possibly in a town."

"Alright, if we can figure out the time, in a week you let out a flare." Hiro-kun ordered and I shook my head.

"Week and a half."

A flare was just that, a blast of chakra in all directions that somebody will hopefully pick up on. Hopefully this person will also be an ally, but any enemies were upstairs anyway and this entire thing can't have been planned or they would have found a better place to keep us.

Like I said, our basement prison was clearly a quick job. If not for the injuries we'd sustained by our captors hands, and the exhaustion from our lengthy fight with them (how had the sand ninja not found us I had no clue) we'd have already escaped.

"There's something wrong with the walls." I muttered lowly, the pain in my arm finally numbing till I could barely feel it.

"What do you mean?" Anko asked and I frowned, pulling my feet from the wall with a disgusted growl.

"It sucks up chakra."

After four days we were starting to feel the chakra being sucked out of us, if I activated my Byakugan I could literally see the chakra seeping from our bodies and into the walls. Except it was too exhausting to activate the Byakugan so Hiro-kun and I had agreed not to use it anymore.

We needed to save our chakra, four days was hopefully long enough for them to realise something was wrong and that we needed help.

Yet I knew it wouldn't be that easy, the birds wouldn't have flown yet but they would and then it would be another week. One more week and we'd be toast, we simply didn't have that long.

We needed to be saved now, but we were starting to get desperate.

One week had passed, and I was about ready to pass out. Keeping my eyes open was a constant struggle, and when they were open the world was blurred.

We were visited regularly, to be interrogated and then beaten and I was started to get more than a bit pissed.

"I like the little one," One of the guards argued lifting Anko's face "she's got spunk."

Anko snapped weakly, biting his hand but barely even leaving a mark. The three of them laughed at her and one punched Hiro-kun in the gut.

"Nah, these two could be twins." One of them said, and my hair was pulled back into the wall so that my head slammed into it.

"They're Hyuuga's, you can tell by the eyes." He grinned grabbing my cheeks and squeezing it uncomfortably tight.

Whatever he was about to say was never said, because with a snarl I tore my face from his hands and the wall behind me erupted. A long thin spike of earth shot out and impaled his head, straight between his eyes.

I stared, horror struck at the corpse that hung in front of me, at the man that I had killed. It wasn't like I'd not killed before, but it was just like then.

Just like Minato and Kushina-sensei.


	18. Chapter 18

_3__rd__ person perspective._

Two weeks was a long time to be held captive.

Kakashi, Gai and Genma had been in the sand for a day now and hadn't found any clue as to what might have happened to team Kushina. The Kazekage has assigned a search team to help, several in fact.

It did not good to initiate a treaty and then have a group of leaf ninja vanished and/or killed whilst delivering a gift.

"I don't see how they managed to get not one, but _two _Hyuuga." Genma muttered as they searched yet another town.

"Not to mention, Anko has the best aim out of any chunin, and most jonin too." Gai agreed in a low voice.

Kakashi listened to them talk, but kept silent as they searched because they really didn't know what they were supposed to look for.

"Wait a sec, there's something here." Genma interrupted pausing where he stood.

Gai and Kakashi halted, they were here to provide backup because Genma was a chakra specialist. That was why he and Shoko got along so well, they both specialised in chakra. Kakashi strongly suspected that Shoko's chakra sensitivity was more natural talent however, and believed with some extra training she could probably become the best chakra sensitive the village had seen in many many years.

"Is it them?" Kakashi asked, speaking up for the first time as Genma surveyed the chakra around them.

"Not sure, but it's way too strong to be a civilian." Genma told them leading the way through the streets towards the very outskirts of the town.

"That house there, there are ninja in that house."

It looked just like every house in the town, two stories, a door, four windows etcetera, etcetera. They move in slowly, carefully and without fear. Genma motions downwards and they search for a basement door.

The blood stain on the stairway down is not a good sign.

The hand laying a few steps down does not boost their confidence, they go lower and find no less than three corpses on the way down and one and a half in the actual room. Hanging from the walls were two more people, alive and panting hard at the sight.

A third and final living person was stood in the centre of the room, staring at the other half of the body Kakashi had spotted earlier.

"Shit." Genma whispered, and the two hanging from the walls snapped their heads over to him.

"Gai?" Anko asked in a hoarse voice, Hiro hung across from her, a gap between them where the third and final team mate had been hung before she'd ripped the chains from the wall.

"Shoko." Kakashi called loudly, Genma and Gai stood behind him waiting to see what would happen.

Shoko didn't move, but after a moment she reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear and looked over at the three of them. There was blood spattered across her face and clothes, her pale eyes had a freakish blood red shine to them that the room reflected into them dimly.

"Shoko, we're going to take you home now." Kakashi continued taking a step further into the carnage and she nodded slowly.

Her hand rose up behind her and Gai took a swift step forwards towards Anko as though Shoko would ever hurt her, Shoko paused but only for a second. Her hand clenched like it was grabbing something, then she thrust her hand forwards and the chains holding Hiro and Anko in the air were torn from the walls.

They both fell into heaps on the floor, Gai moved to Anko quickly darting across the blood and corpses, Genma rushed to Hiro.

Kakashi moved slowly to Shoko, keeping himself in full view in case she snapped. Clearly she had been the one to kill these people, which is why two weeks are a long time to be held captive. You can snap, Shoko was stood perfectly still waiting for something only she knew right now.

"How long has she been stood there?" Kakashi asked, looking at her thin face and bony, cut up wrists.

"Couple of days." Anko coughed as Gai steadied her, she and Hiro both looked just as thin and frail as Shoko did.

"She just stood there?" Genma asked as they all moved towards the stairway and out of this small hellish room.

"Come on Shoko," Kakashi beckoned gently holding out a hand for her "we need to go now."

Shoko tentatively reached forwards and took his hand timidly, and Kakashi gave her a tug towards the stairs.

Her steps were shaky and weak, but she made it up the stairs and into the main house where the three of them were sat down and assessed.

"What the hell happened down there?" Genma asked, but Anko feverishly shook her head.

"We can leave as soon as you're ready, Genma you should go inform the Kazekage that we need medical aid." Gai sidetracked easily, and Genma darted out the house and towards the Kazekage's home.

It wouldn't take them long to arrive, Kakashi would have to remember to send a bird back home letting them know that team Kushina had been found. The Hyuuga's would be more than relieved that Shoko was alive, although whether or not she was unharmed still remained to be seen.

Anko sat with Shoko kept close, Gai stood just behind her and Hiro was sat to their left.

Shoko didn't seem to be particularly injured, but she had just killed those people and even though he could see no weapon she can't have done it with her bare hands. She was strong, undoubtedly strong and could pull them apart, but wouldn't.

Shoko wasn't so brutal.

Genma returned within an hour with medical nin in tow, and team Kushina was examined carefully. Gai went out and found them somewhere to stay the night, tomorrow they would go home no matter what the medical nin said.

They only proved Kakashi right anyway, apart from exhaustion and malnourishment the three of them were completely fine physically and mentally the best thing for them was to be surrounded by friendly faces.

Only time would tell what the damage truly was.

Shoko woke that night, pale and sweaty and ready to scream. It was only the realisation that screaming would wake everyone else that made her clamp her mouth shut to keep in the sound, the sudden fright had snapped her out of her daze and she was feeling the hunger and ache in her joints.

The air in the room was stale, but she was on a bed and she was warm and that was more than she could ask for. There was food beside her bed, and water to drink that she supped at timidly.

Genma had drifted off in the corner, sat up with his arms crossed and head lolled onto his chest.

He'd been on duty and had drifted off, but Shoko couldn't find it in her heart to be angry because from what she could tell and remember they were safe.

Anko was tucked up next to her, gripping her cover tight and Hiro-kun had kicked his off his body entirely.

Gai and Kakashi were nowhere to be seen, but she strongly suspected one of them was by the door and the other just outside the window.

Shoko knew she'd killed them, could see her crystal clear in her mind it shouldn't bother her really but…she'd impaled him.

Just like Minato and Kushina-sensei.

She thought she was going to be sick.

"We'll be home soon."

Genma had roused himself, or maybe he'd been feigning sleep it was hard to tell with some ninja. He nodded at her, because god knows Genma didn't do physical comfort the guy was so awkward.

"Yeah." Shoko agreed, laying back down and going back to sleep.

It was blissful and black, and she couldn't have asked for anything more.


	19. Chapter 19

**I forgot to mention this before but CrazyScythe makes the excellent point about Shoko not knowing the meaning of 'Imouto' and I never actually thought about that before, I have contemplated this but I wont be putting in a rubbish plot-hole filler because that wouldn't work.**

**Instead, once I have finished I will be going back to edit the chapters and remove such errors. Thank you for pointing this out to me, and I hope this cleared it up.**

**Read and Review guys.**

**Tulip Out.**

The journey back home was long, it took us three days instead of two because we were so tired but we pushed on until we couldn't take another step. I was determined to do as much as my team mates, even though all three of our rescuers had offered to carry each of us (Hiro-kun had looked absolutely disgusted) we'd all declined.

But we were home, my brothers were fussing and my beloved niece and nephew were sat in my lap acting like I was gods gift to earth. I could live like this forever, just sat with my family there.

It would be nicer only if Hiashi and Hizashi would stop treating me like glass, and if I didn't have to go to the Hokage's office in an hour to report what happened with Anko and Hiro-kun.

Kakashi, Genma and Gai had reported the aftermath along with their speculations, we were going to provide the final details and such, nothing to worry about.

"Details, are the bane of my existence." I told Ji-chan and Hina-chan, Hina-chan gurgled and Ji-chan nodded seriously at me.

"Bane." He agreed and I snickered, the two of them got on like a house on fire and Ji-chan petted Hina-chan's head and repeated the word.

"Bane. Baaaaaaaaane."

Hina-chan gurgled a 'b' sound and Ji-chan petted her head again encouragingly.

"Shoko-sama?" A voice called and Hiashi let a young Hyuuga girl in and I nodded at her as an indication for her to speak.

"Your friends are here, shall I let them in?" She asked dutifully and I nodded rapidly.

"Are you sure?" Hizashi asked as she went to fetch them and I nodded.

"Yeah."

Hiashi and Hizashi left us to it, taking Hina-chan and Ji-chan with them as Anko came striding in along with Asuma and Kakashi. Gai was off on another mission, and I didn't know where Genma was or if he considered himself part of our friends group so I didn't worry about them too much.

I wasn't speaking to Hiro-kun, I'd caught him verbally bashing several children and refused to forgive him on the grounds that they were children and had done nothing wrong.

"Hey Sho-chan, how're you feeling?" Asuma asked gently as they spread themselves around my small room.

"Much better thanks," I smiled and Anko kicked her feet out from under herself and crashed onto the ground with a heavy bump.

Anko sighed and sprawled herself across the floor with her chin resting on my leg, she looked very uncomfortable but she had a very happy face.

"Anko…are you…are you alright?" I asked covering a smirk the best I could as she stared up at my with dazed eyes.

"Yeah, sure, I'm great."

I nodded slowly and leaned down closer to her ear.

"Get a date with he-who-must-not-be-named?" I asked in a whisper.

"It's entirely possible."

I squealed and hugged her awkwardly on my leg, well it was about time she and Gai started dating. Although a date did not _technically _signify dating I was willing to run with it.

"You figured out what you're going to say to the Hokage?" Asuma asked and suddenly my giggles were gone.

"I was thinking something along the lines of the truth, just for a change." I mocked him and he rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't take this lightly," Kakashi scolded "something happened in there and it wasn't good."

"Thanks for the reminder sour-puss." Anko grunted pulling herself up from her uncomfortable position on my lap.

"I am going to go to the Hokage, and I am going to tell him what happened." I informed them sternly and Anko nodded her agreement.

"What _did _happen?" Asuma asked gently, almost as though he didn't want to know the answer.

"We got ambushed." Anko told him "we let out guards drop and we paid the price for it, they took us down and dragged us to that _pit._"

The room had gone quiet, Asuma and Kakashi were listening intently to the tale and devouring every word for further use and details. They were ninja, data gathering was part of their job whether it be on the enemy or their friends.

"They starved us, beat us, and then one day I had enough," I continued "and I killed them all."

"But why did you…freeze up, like that?" Asuma asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Years of pent up rage and aggression?"

Kakashi didn't look convinced and actually looked kind of angry, but he didn't say anything even up till we all walked to the Hokage's tower together. Kakashi and Asuma were going to wait outside, but the Hokage called them in anyway.

"Think of them as moral support." He insisted with a smile.

Hiro-kun was stood waiting for us, and I made a point of standing away from him with Anko between us both just to make sure he knew that I was still mad at him.

Lord Hokage barely needed to speak, he just let us tell the tale right from the start and right to the end without a word.

"Shoko, do you know what happened?" He asked me when we had finished and I nodded slowly.

"I think so, I mean I have a theory."

He opened his arms in an inviting flourish "I am open to all theories."

"Well," I started "I…I got angry and I meant to hurt him, well I probably meant to kill him but," I frowned at myself, god I was bad with words "I impaled him."

A little light flickered on in the Hokage's eyes, and he held up a hand for me to stop.

"I understand."

A Hyuuga elder stood across from the room, and decided that he really didn't understand and voiced this to us all. I was expected to behave in certain ways and the news of my capture had spread like wildfire in the family and they wanted to know what happened.

It wouldn't do for a child of the main family to have a mental breakdown.

"We are simply worried about her health, all aspects of it." She insisted with an air of importance, she looked at me expectantly.

I looked over at the Hokage imploringly, begging him with my eyes not to make me explain why the idea if impaling someone had totally destroyed my mind for those dark moments.

"You are all dismissed, I will explain." Hokage ordered and I swear I have never moved as fast as I did then to get out of the Hokage's office.

I kept up my little run, Anko jogging alongside me, until we were completely outside the Hokage tower and in the town.

"Alright then," Anko smirked "we've got to go train now right?"

I nodded enthusiastically, and footsteps behind me made me turn. Kakashi and Asuma were behind us coming across the courtyard.

"Mind if we join?"

There were several places to train in the leaf, there were fields, forests and a few rocky plains which is where we were heading. Around the back of the mountain and up a few levels onto a rocky plain that hung out over the fields around the village.

Anko seemed happy to throw her senbon and other such weapons at Asuma and Kakashi and they were both happy enough to dodge whilst I practised on my own.

I slipped off my shoes and curled my toes into the dirt, feeling every grain as it crept in between my toes.

I had earth chakra, it really wasn't a surprise that I felt so safe with the earth between my toes and the mountain around me. I started with slow waves, pushing and pulling like I always did to see with my chakra. In the back of my head I always saw them, Kushina-sensei and Minato, but the image grew dimmer everyday.

I longed for the day I would not see them at all, and dreaded it at the same time.


End file.
